Madoka Ame: Tranquil Rain
by avafreak45
Summary: Fire singed the hem of her dress as daggers ripped through its fabric, but still she kept running. she was terrified. 'What have I done to deserve such treatment' she thought as flames licked her legs and daggers sliced her skin.
1. The Daily Routine

Hi, hi! New story by me! I know I have like, 2 other stories that are unfinished and stuff, but I just had to write this one! It's been in my head FOREVER!!! But I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Summary: A young servant girl named Yu-Lin, Prince Zuko, and Ty Lee become the best of friends after the Prince and Nobleman's daughter see that Yu-Lin is being physically and verbally abused by Azula and Mai. Ty Lee becomes a main part of their growing friendship—especially since she sees that Zuko and Yu-Lin's friendship has gotten closer. Mai, being in love with Zuko, gets overwhelmingly jealous of Yu-Lin and vows to make her life a living hell.

Note: This story will most likely go from when they are children, to teenagers, to present canon. But I'm not sure, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!!

The Daily Routine

The sun's rays flowed from the sky onto the Fire Lord's garden and it's surroundings. They reflected off the waters of the pond as it winked back in welcome of the light. The only protection from the from the warm sun was from a lone tree by the bank of the small boy of water, where a little girl of about the age of ten sat, shielded in its shade.

She had short hair, about shoulder length though still long enough for her to tie in a low ponytail below her right hear. However, quite an amount managed to escape and two large chunks of it lay distributed on either side of her face.

She was dressed in a traditional Chinese-style red, short-sleeved dress with two wide slits on either side. Both the hem and the collar were lined with gold fabric and she wore baggy brown pants, which gathered at her knee, and plain red shoes.

Her name was Yu-Lin and she worked with her mother as a servant in Fire Lord Azulon's palace. A she sat by the pond gazing at the dancing shimmers, she tore off pieces of the bread she had brought with her and started to feed the turtleducks swimming in the pond.

As all hungry animals do, they came swimming to her, each determined to get the first piece of bread. One was even brave enough to come out of the water and stand in front of her, begging for a piece.

Yu-Lin giggled and gave him what he asked. She then gently picked it up and held it to her eye level.

"You're so cute," she said to it. "I think I'll call you Qiao." Then she placed it back in the water where it swam away.

Yu-Lin continued to gaze at the water and the turtleducks and started to daydream. She had always wondered what it was like outside the confinements of the palace and often dreamt about venturing out. She has often gone to the market with her mother to get some ingredients to help her mother cook for the Royal Family—and that was as much of the outside world she got.

She dreamed of going…somewhere; somewhere big—like the Earth Kingdom. She could run away and…no, she reasoned. The law clearly states that anyone who abandons their post in service to the Fire Lord—whether they are serving in the army or otherwise— was met with certain death by beheading.

The young girl place both hands around her neck. She sighed and put them on her lap. So much for her dream.

She straightened up when she heard someone call her name. She stood up and ran onto the open grounds to greet whomever it was that called for her.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," said a woman looking sternly at the young girl with golden eyes. Then they softened and she bend down so she was level with Yu-Lin.

"Have you been playing with the turtleducks again?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes Mother," said Yu-Lin, looking at her. Like her daughter, Yu-Lin's mother, Huiquin, wore a uniform identical to hers except the pants of her uniform were loose and came down to her ankles. She had long black hair that she kept tied back in a bun, and full lips. She laughed at her daughters answer.

"Well, do you think you could help me make breakfast for the Royal Family? You can come and play with the turtleducks later," she offered.

"Yes ma'am. I'll come help," answered Yu-Lin.

"Ok, then. Come along." She and her mother went inside.

"Do you think they're up yet Mother?" asked Yu-Lin. They were in the kitchen with the other servants and she was pouring hot tea in cups while her mother made spicy noodles.

"They might be; the sun's been up for quite a bit so I think so."

Yu-Lin poured another cup of tea and asked, "That means we have to hurry, right?"

"That's right," said her mother as she poured noodles into five plates. "Is the tea ready?" she asked Yu-Lin.

"Yes Mother," she replied and handed her each cup one by one.

"Is Fire Lord Azulon's breakfast ready?" asked a guard coming to Yu-Lin's mother.

"Yes," she said as she placed the plate and a small hot teapot on a tray and covered the noodles in a warm white cloth. "Here you are," she said as she handed the tray to the guard. He took it and left.

Her mother finished preparing another four trays of food and put two each on two larger trays. She gave one tray to Yu-Lin and said, "You take that to Prince Zuko and Princess Azula. I'll take this one to Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa."

"Yes Mother," said her daughter as she took the tray. She then left her mother to deliver the food.

Twelve-year-old Prince Zuko had just gotten out of bed, brushed his teeth, and was coming back from his bathroom when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he said. The door opened and in popped Yu-Lin carrying his breakfast.

"Good morning, your Highness," she said, casting her eyes down, as was accustomed. "I have brought his Majesty breakfast. Did his Excellency sleep well?" she asked as she placed the tray on a nearby table and brought his breakfast to him, all the while keeping her eyes down.

The Prince accepted his food and said, "Yes. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, your Majesty," replied Yu-Lin, bowing. "I hope you enjoy your breakfast." She then walked to the table, picked up the tray with the remaining food, and left.

She walked across the hall and stopped at the door to Princess Azula's room. She hated having to give the Princess breakfast; it always ended with Yu-Lin getting hurt one way or another.

She took a deep breath, secured the tray in her right hand, and with her left, knocked on the door.

"Come in," said an annoyed voice from within the chambers. Yu-Lin opened the door and entered.

"It's about time. I was waiting forever," said Azula. The nine-year-old Princess sat Indian-style in the center of her bed, glaring at Yu-Lin.

"What took you so long?" she demanded. "Oh wait, you're just too stupid to find your way here fast enough. My food is probably cold now."

Yu-Lin had never been as happy as she was at that moment that she was obliged to keep her head down in front of those superior to her, for she felt her eyes glaze over with tears.

"My humblest apologies your Maj—" she started to say but the Princess cut across her.

"Just shut up and give me my breakfast, you stupid girl," said Azula.

"Yes, of course," replied the girl, her voice shaking. She took the tray of food and handed it to Azula who snatched it out of her grasp.

"I—"

"Get out," snapped Azula. Yu-Lin bowed and obeyed. When she had gotten to the door she heard Azula say something about the tea and she felt something hit her back. Azula had thrown her cup at her. She felt searing pain where the tea had splashed her and she gave a cry and fell to her knees.

"The tea was too hot," said Azula. "I don't want it anymore, take it back."

Yu-Lin pivoted on her knees so her body faced the Princess. She placed her hands on the floor in from of her and bowed deeply.

"My apologies," she said, choking back tears. She got to her feet and walked to Azula's bed where she held out the small teapot.

As Yu-Lin held out her hand for the pot, Azula smirked and let go. The servant girl dove for it, but unfortunately she grabbed it as the hot liquid spilled out, scorching her hands. She gasped but said nothing and bowed out of the room—but not before picking up the shattered remains of the cup that lay strewn on the floor.

Once she had closed the door and was out in the hallway, she walked a couple paces to her left towards the kitchens, then stopped. She placed the teapot and the broken China on the floor, crouched down, and cried.

Well, there you have it: the first chapter of Madoka Ame. Hope you all enjoy! Reviews will be appreciated!


	2. A Deadly Game

**Sorry, sorry, sorry, for the long wait! I was stuck on what to write for this chapter! I'm still not sure if this is good enough, but I'll give it my best shot! I hope you like it! I would like to thank **razzledazzle41191, Rukayah **and **RIRAITOxRAITO**! Thank you very much! Here's the second chapter!**

**Note:** It is still the same day in this chapter as in the previous one…I didn't know what to write if I had started another day so I'm settling with this. Please enjoy!

**A Deadly Game**

Yu-Lin crouched there on the floor, sobbing her heart out. She cried so much that she thought her eyes would dry. She unwrapped her arms from her torso and looked at her hands; there was raw skin where the hot tea had marked her. This, she decided, wasn't as bad as it could have been. But she knew that her back would be much worse.

Her vision blurred as the tears came again and gently flowed down her face. She sniffed. _This is the main reason why I want to run away, _she thought. _I want to be far away from Princess Azula._

Fresh tears came to her eyes again and she tried to hold them back. But she did so in vain for she not only let them cascade down her face, she let out a small wail of despair. Her cries became more prominent as she let her misery ooze out of her.

"Yu-Lin," said a voice. The young girl gasped and looked up to find Ming, another servant girl a year her senior, looking down at her. She had short hair, with golden dragonfly hairpins holding it in place. Dark bangs covered her forehead and long strands of hair framed the sides of her face. Yu-Lin had known her ever since she was old enough to do trivial chores around the palace—which was about when she was five. The two of them had become well acquainted with each other over the years and she was one of Yu-Lin's friends among the servants.

"What's wrong?" she asked, getting on her knees so she was level with Yu-Lin. "Why are you crying?" Yu-Lin remained silent and averted her eyes to the floor. She tried to hide her hands from Ming's view but she was too quick for her.

"What happened to your hands?" she asked, quickly grabbing one of Yu-Lin's hands and examining them. She then saw the shattered remains of what used to be Azula's cup, along with a small dragon teapot next to her friend. When Yu-Lin refused to answer her again, Ming took matters into her own hands.

"Was it Princess Azula?" she asked fiercely, her eyes flashing dangerously. She was quite familiar with the abuse Yu-Lin was getting from the younger Princess and it was a known fact to Yu-Lin that she didn't approve. "What did she do to you?"

Yu-Lin took a shaky breath and started to tell her what happened, but not before making Ming promise not to tell anyone—especially her mother. Her friend nodded in agreement and swore to secrecy.

"She…she…" stuttered Yu-Lin, trying to hold back new tears. Ming waited patiently for her to continue. "She threw her tea at me…and she spilled her tea on my hands when I went to go get the teapot from her," she finally said, he voice shaking.

"What!" exclaimed Ming, quickly getting to her feet and pacing across the corridor. "How dare she do that to you? That is unforgivable! If I weren't servant, she'll be hearing from me for sure! I'll give her a piece of my mind! You know what?" she said, taking a break from her relentless pacing and looking at Azula's bedroom door. "I'll do it right now!"

With that, she marched determinedly to Azula's door, her hands clenched in fits of rage. "She'll be hearing it from me," she muttered. She was about to bombard her way into the Princess's room when Yu-Lin grabbed her wrist, and turned her around to face her, her eyes pleading.

"You can't do that," she said. "I don't want you to get involved. I can handle it."

"Oh yes, you're certainly handling this fine—sitting on the ground crying."

"Ming, I know you mean well but _please_. Just…let me handle it my way. Remember what the honored General said one day? 'A rat who gnaws at a cat's tail invites destruction!'"

"So you're saying I'm the rat?"

"Yes. And you're gnawing on Azula's tail and she'll make your life miserable too, and I don't want that to happen."

Ming looked at her friend practically begging her not to anger the Princess. Her pleading honey-bronze eyes softened her anger and she sighed in defeat.

"All right," she said. "I won't do anything—I'll let you handle it." She smiled at Yu-Lin who let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said hugging her. "I knew you'd understand." Ming's smile grew and she hugged Yu-Lin back, but she sharply withdrew from her, uttering a small "ouch" of pain. Ming's eyes narrowed.

"Let me see your back," she ordered. "What?" stated Yu-Lin. "You mean…take off my dress? But what if somebody sees me?"

"You have pants on," retorted Ming. "And besides, you're not going to take the whole thing off—you're just going to disrobe enough so I can see where the tea splashed you. No one's going to see you anyway—the hallway's deserted."

"But Prince Zuko's room is up the hall, what if he comes out and sees me half naked?" Yu-Lin blushed with embarrassment after saying this perfectly plausible statement.

"He doesn't come out unless he has to practice with weapons or firebending or just take a walk with Princess Ursa. You'll be fine. Now turn around and let me see! I want to see the damage to know if we should get some medicine for it!"

Yu-Lin thought about this for a moment, and then decided that Ming was right and she was just being paranoid. She turned around, undid the buttons of her dress, and showed Ming her back. She gasped.

A large portion of Yu-Lin's skin directly on her shoulder blade was red-raw where the tea had made its mark.

_Poor Yu-Lin, _she thought. _The tea must have been really hot to make a mark like this. Or maybe…_another thought occurred to her…_Azula used her firebending to make it ten folds hotter! _She glared at the mark on Yu-Lin's back. _That little witch!_

"Oh Yu-Lin," whispered Ming. "This is terrible."

"How bad is it?" she asked.

"It's quite bad," replied Ming, eyeing the burn carefully. "But it's nothing a little medicine can't fix." She moved from behind Yu-Lin and faced her, a smile on her face. "Come on, put your dress back on and let's go to the Healers. They might have some medicine for you."

Yu-Lin smiled and nodded in agreement. Ming gathered up the teapot and shattered cup pieces, while Yu-Lin put her dress back on and together they went down the corridor.

* * *

"A burn on her back, you say?" asked and elderly Healer. The two girls had made it to the Healing quarters of the palace and had told the Superior that Yu-Lin had an accident in the kitchens. The story was, she was on the floor getting something from a cabinet when a pan of hot water was spilled on her, burning her back. Perfectly convincing.

"Hmm…I think we have something for her," said the Superior. "Just let me check the stash." The two young servants watched the old woman go from cupboard to cupboard looking for the right healing herbs and spices. When she came back, the girls saw a look of disappointment on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I'm afraid we have run out of the right herbs for you, little one."

The two girls hung their heads. Now what were they going to do? "But," continued the Healer, "I just happen to know of a vendor in the market who sells such particular herbs. His name is Siyu and he sells all sorts of herbs. I would be happy to give you two some money to go buy some. I know I'm not supposed to give orders to servant—especially not two young girls like yourselves, but I'm just too old to go to the market, and by the time I get there the vendor would probably be closed for the day."

The two girls looked at each other. "We'll get the herbs for you, Superior," said Ming. "We don't mind. And besides, Yu-Lin really needs the medicine."

The Healer thought for a moment, then looked at the two of them. "You really don't mind? Are you sure?"

"Oh yes, positive. It's no trouble at all," piped Yu-Lin. The Superior smiled at them, making the wrinkles on her face almost disappear. She reached into her robes, brought out a bag of money and handed it to her.

"Thank you very much," she said. "Ask him for a pound of Calendula. He's bound to have some in stock."

The two servants nodded, took the money, and headed to the market.

* * *

The market was bustling with people going in different directions, hither thither trying to find the things they needed for themselves. The two girls went to at least 7 vendors looking for Siyu and his stash of healing herbs; four of those vendors didn't have a clue who he was, and two of them tried to sell the girls _their_ goods instead—which weren't even herbs!

They had gone deep into the market square, when they finally found a vendor who not only had the healing herb, but also had a good supply of it. He was a very kind man, wearing a red and white tunic, light brown pants, along with red shoes that complimented his tunic. He wore his dark hair in a topknot, which was traditional for Fire Nation men. The two of girls automatically knew it was Siyu judging by the way he acted so warmly towards them when they told him that the Superior had sent them.

"Okay, that's one pound of Calendula," he said, taking out a couple handfuls of the yellow flower and weighing them on a scale. He then wrapped them up in brown paper, tied it with a string, and handed it to the girls. "Here you go, girls. Take care now."

The two thanked and paid him, bowed, and were on their way back to the palace when they heard someone yell into the crowd.

"MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY FOR NOBLEMAN HUANG, NOBLELADY HUANG, AND THEIR DAUGHTER TY LEE HUANG!"

The two servants stopped in their tracks as a young man dressed in formal Fire Nation attire lead a family, each being carried by four strong individuals, in a large veiled riding vessels made for royalty.

The girls looked around and noticed that all the people in the market had bowed in respect to the nobleman and his family and they did not hesitate to do the same.

"What do you think the Nobleman and his family are doing in the market?" whispered Yu-Lin to Ming as they lay on the ground.

"I think they're going to the palace," Ming whispered back. "We'd better hurry and get back quickly then."

Yu-Lin nodded and looked on as the Noble family passed. Once gone, the market resumed its merry nature, and Ming and Yu-Lin stood up.

"Come on," said Ming. "We have to go."

* * *

Yu-Lin gasped as the cool paste of the healing herb was smeared on her back. The two girls had reached the palace and went immediately to the Healing quarters to apply the medicine to her. The Healers had crushed the flower and mixed it with water to make the paste but it wasn't that that made Yu-Lin gasp. The Healer hands were very cold.

"Are your hands _always_ this cold, Superior?" she asked, as the elderly woman continued to slather medicine on Yu-Lin's skin. She laughed merrily and said, "I'm just old." The Superior then moved from Yu-Lin's back to her front where she slapped some more medicine on her burned hands.

After about fifteen minutes, the day made way to afternoon and the Superior told Yu-Lin and Ming they were free to go back and resume their duties. She bandaged Yu-Lin's hands and back, and the girls went their separate ways—Ming to the kitchens to prepare dinner, since lunch was already set, and Yu-Lin to find her mother and see if she needed help with anything in the palace.

She was walking through the open-air hallway through the courtyard, when she heard the distinct sound of fire being flung at her. She screamed and ducked with her hands over her head and her eyes shut tight just in time, and the fireball went through the glass-less windows above her.

She opened her eyes when she heard cruel laughter coming from the courtyard. Azula was standing in front of the water fountain laughing ostentatiously, while another girl stood a couple feet from Azula, her hands on her hips, her face blank of expression.

The other girl had thick black hair put together in two small buns on the top of her head. Bangs covered her forehead and most of her eyebrows as well. She wore a dark red dress, brown pants, and black Fire Nation boots. The armor she wore above her shoulders was completely black, save for the white lining on the hems of it. The skirt of her ensemble was black as well, and it too had white along the hem.

"Azula, that was mean! She wasn't doing anything to you, you should apologize!" shouted another girl, coming from behind the only tree at the sound of Yu-Lin's scream. This girl was wearing traditional Fire Nation clothes, but instead of the usual red, the colors of her clothes were pink. She wore her brown hair in a single braid on the top of her head, and large bits of it lay on either side of her face.

Azula laughed at this remark and said, "Ty Lee, do you really think I'd apologize to someone like _her? _She's nothing but a stupid servant, and besides…" she glared at Yu-Lin and grinned wickedly. "…I'm having fun playing this game."

Yu-Lin slowly got up and stared at the three girls in horror. "W-what game?" she asked, terrified.

"Tag, Yu-Lin," said Azula, lighting her fingertips with another ball of fire. "And you're about to be IT!" She hurled the fireball at Yu-Lin who shrieked in fright and took off down the hall, the other girls following her.

She heard Azula's cruel laugh behind her, and she felt the deadly warmth of fire quite near her legs. She heard Ty Lee reprimand Azula, but the Princess wouldn't hear it. She continued to chase Yu-Lin.

The servant girl ran deep into the palace, skidding into hallways and archways trying to lose her pursuers. She skidded into the hall where Azula and Zuko's rooms were and raced down it. She checked the walls on her left and right, trying to find one ajar. She flung herself inside, closed and locked the door, and then slid to the floor panting, her eyes shut.

"Yu-Lin?" asked a curious voice behind her. Her eyes shot open, and she turned around on the floor to face the latter, her mouth slightly open. Prince Zuko sat on a small table near his extravagant bed, staring at her—confusion written on his face.

Yu-Lin immediately flung herself in a low bow, and started begging him for forgiveness for barging into his room so unexpectedly.

"It's okay," he said nervously, cutting through her words. "But…what are you running from anyway?" Yu-Lin sat on her knees, but kept her head bowed to the Prince.

"It's not 'what' I'm running from your Majesty, but 'who,'" she said.

"'Who?'"

"Yes. I'm running from—" but at that moment, Yu-Lin was cut off by a shout of "where in Agni's name _is_ that useless sack of bones?" very near the Prince's door. Forgetting she wasn't supposed to look directly at him, she shot her head up to look Zuko directly in the eye and said, "Your Excellency, _please, please! _You must hide me!" She was on her knees by now and had her hands tightly intertwined and held against her chest.

"Hide you? From what?" he asked, confused. Yu-Lin stood up at this remark—completely frantic at this point—and answered, "Princess Azula! She's—"

However, the door burst open to reveal Princess Azula's evil smiling face at the sight of her victim.

"There you are you little _sneak_!" cried Azula from the doorway. "Azula, stop it!" cried Ty Lee, looking at her friend fiercely.

"Keep quiet, Ty Lee. Let the Princess do what she wants…it passes time," said the other girl. "Mai, that's not helping!" shouted Ty Lee.

"Now, Yu-Lin…you're _it_!" shrieked Azula, lighting her fingertips with fire again. Yu-Lin's eyes widened in fear as another ball of fire threatened to burn her face. However, the fireball seemed to split itself in half, and the next thing Yu-Lin knew, she was cowering behind Prince Zuko. He had used his bending to break the fireball in half.

He stood in front of her, staring at his sister in disgusted amazement.

"What are you _doing_?" he demanded of her. Azula snorted and said, "Playing a game. And you just ruined the fun of it."

"_Fun_? Terrorizing Yu-Lin is _fun _to you?"

"Yeah, you should try it sometime." Azula looked behind her brother at the startled girl cowering in fear, and smiled deviously. "Plus, Mai said she was bored and Yu-Lin just happened to be there."

Zuko looked from Azula to Mai in disbelief. The dark-haired girl blushed and looked away, ashamed. Zuko shifted his gaze from her to the petrified girl behind him. She stood locking her eyes with his, grasping his shoulders and shivering with fright.

The Prince looked at the ground for a moment, apparently trying to contemplate the situation and the fact that he thought his sister just might be psychotic. He then looked at all three girls standing in his doorway, his eyes cold. Ty Lee and Mai flinched, but Azula stood her ground, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I have no idea what in Agni's name goes on in that head of yours Azula, and I honestly I don't want to know," he said fiercely. "But if you ever do this again, I'll—"

Azula burst into laughter at his unfinished threat.

"Or you'll what, Zuzu?" she taunted; using the nickname she knew he hated beyond anything else. "Tell Mom on me?" She grinned maliciously at her older brother. "You can't even do basic firebending moves correctly yet, and you expect to take me on when I make that sack of stupid behind you scared?"

Zuko felt Yu-Lin cower more behind him at Azula's insult, and he felt her grip on his shoulders tighten. Azula howled with laughter again and turned to her friends saying, "Come on, he can't do anything to us—he's just throwing around empty threats." She took one last malicious glance at her brother. "It's not very effective," she told him, grinning evilly.

She and Mai then left Zuko's bedroom, the young Princess still cackling. Ty Lee, however, stayed behind looking at the other two children, pity in her eyes. The Prince and Yu-Lin looked at her as well.

"Yu-Lin," began the nobleman's daughter, taking a tentative step into Zuko's room, her arm outstretched attempting to try and comfort the servant. She was stopped, sadly, by Azula screaming her name down the hall and ordering her to hurry and meet herself and Mai.

Ty Lee took one last sorrowful look at Yu-Lin and ran down to meet her friend.

Once the three of them were gone, Yu-Lin and Zuko stood rooted to the floor. A long silence fell between them. Yu-Lin was the first to break the unbearable calm. She walked out from behind the Prince, her eyes on the ground, her bandaged hands in front her.

"Umm…your Majesty?"

"Hm?"

The young girl bowed and said in a rush of words, "Thank you very much for helping me. I…uh…I really appreciate it. Again, thank you." She bowed again and stood, her eyes to the floor.

Zuko smiled warmly at her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yu-Lin," he said, hoping that she would look at him. "Yu-Lin you can look at me, I really don't mind." The girl hesitated for a moment, and finally raised her head to look into the Prince's eyes. They had a kindness in them that she had only seen her mother have when she smiled at her. She wanted to look away, but something inside her told her she shouldn't.

Zuko chuckled and patted her head. "It's no big deal," he said. "Just make sure that if Azula ever bothers you again, you come to me, okay? I'll be glad to help you out of anything she puts you through."

It took Yu-Lin a couple of minutes to process what he said to her. The second Prince of the Fire Nation was offering to help her with trying to fight Azula and (what Yu-Lin would consider) her evil. Someone of a much higher social status was actually offering her help! Her eyes watered and her face split into a smile. She flung her arms around Zuko's neck and hugged him tightly, forgetting completely that hugging a member of the Royal Family was strictly prohibited.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, your Excellency! You are most kind!" she said. "I don't know what to say!"

The Prince was taken aback by the sudden outburst…but smiled all the same.

**Okay, end of second chapter! Hope you like it! Personally, I think that this chapter is way better than the first one! Oh, and if you see any grammatical errors, PLEASE ignore them! But besides that, reviews will be appreciated all the same! So if you want more, R&R and more shall come! **


	3. Friend or Foe?

**Hey everybody! Here's the third chapter of Madoka Ame! I hope you all like it! A special thanks to **razzledazzle41191, RIRAITOxRAITO, Hiko-chan, **and **Twilight Rose2!!! **Thank you all very much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!!**

**Disclaimer:**I do not own "Avatar: TLA". I do, however, own Haruki, Ming, Yu-Lin, Xian, Granny Asami, and this story. But if I did own "Avatar", Azula would be in prison in a straightjacket, Ozai would be dead, Ursa would come back from "vacation" (yes, I believe she is on "vacation") Jet would still be alive, and a whole bunch of other shit that went down would all be changed. Oh, and Aang and Katara would repopulate the Air Nomad race. That is all.

**Friend or Foe?**

Yu-Lin once again found herself at the turtle-duck pond, outside the palace, the next day watching them swim around and scramble for the food she threw at them. She knew she wasn't supposed to be there; she was supposed to help Ming and Haruki, another servant four years older than her, clean Fire Lord Azulon's war room. They were ordered to finish before he woke, but since it was still quite early and the sun hadn't completely risen, Yu-Lin reasoned, she would just stay by the pond for a little while and then hurry and meet them.

"I'm sure they'll still have a lot more to do once I get there; the war room is huge, I'll help them out then," she said to the swimming turtle-ducks as she tossed more bread in the water. She continued to watch them and slowly sunk into another daydream, her eyes becoming blank and vacant as she stared into space.

Because of this, she failed to notice someone approach her quietly from behind. The stranger stood a few feet behind her and took her out of her trance by softly calling out her name. The young girl almost fell into the pond with fright. She quickly composed herself and stood up, facing the newcomer.

Her eyes widened when she realized who stood before her.

"Your Excellency, Princess Ursa!" said the child in a hushed, and shocked tone. The servant girl crumpled to her knees and bowed in respect to the Princess.

Ursa wore a long, flowing red robe with a golden collar designed with flames around the hem of it. Her shoulders and chest were protected with armor, and the long, wide sleeves of her robes were laced with long gold fabric. They fluttered in the wind as she stood, looking warmly at the bowing girl, with her golden eyes. Ursa wore her long, silky, ebony hair down except for one part. She had arranged that part of her hair into a topknot where a flame-shaped crown rested.

She continued to smile kindly towards Yu-Lin. "You may rise, Yu-Lin," she said softly. The girl hastened to obey. Like always, she kept her eyes to the ground.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" asked the Princess. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Yu-Lin nodded, her face reddening with embarrassment and shame.

"Where are you meant to be now?" inquired Ursa.

Yu-Lin was silent for a moment then answered, "I am meant to be in His Esteemed Royal Highness, Fire Lord Azulon's war room, Majesty. I am to help Ming and Haruki clean it before he awakens. But I must be too late since your Excellency is already up and has found me sitting here doing nothing and rejecting my duties and for that I beg forgiveness." Yu-Lin's throat tightened at the end of her sentence and became one octave higher than usual.

The elder Princess laughed slightly, surprising the ten-year-old girl before her. Unintentionally, she raised her head and looked up at her, her expression one of mingled surprise and confusion. Had she said something funny? She prayed to the Spirits that she hadn't accidentally said something that would cause her even more embarrassment.

Ursa's laugh died away and she stared warmly towards Yu-Lin who blinked and bowed her head and stared at her feet.

"You have no need to worry, young one," she said. "I came out here for a short walk through the grounds. It's something that I like to do once in a while when the Spirits do not grant me rest during the night…something to clear my mind." She looked upward towards the sky for a moment and was silent. After a minute, she looked back at Yu-Lin, with her smile upon her lips once more. "Don't worry. Fire Lord Azulon is still sound asleep. He doesn't wake up until the sun has properly risen."

Yu-Lin remained silent after hearing this, but inside she sighed with relief. For a moment she thought she would be reprimanded for her actions. _Princess Ursa is quite kind, _she thought, _much unlike her daughter. Princess Ursa is like Mother. They both have such kindness. Prince Zuko must take after her._

"Come Yu-Lin," said Ursa, kneeling down to Yu-Lin's level and looking into her eyes. "I'll take you to the war room. Ming and Haruki must be waiting for you by now." Yu-Lin nodded in agreement, and followed in step behind the elder Princess to Fire Lord Azulon's war room.

* * *

"Argh! When is she going to get here?" cried Haruki, throwing her rag into the wooden bucket next to her in anger, and splashing soapy water everywhere and managing to get a considerable amount on her front. She and Ming were busy cleaning and had been there in the war room for a considerable about of time and there was no sign of Yu-Lin still. They were nearly finished.

Ming looked up from her job of cleaning the floor at Haruki looking down at her sopping wet front, horrified.

"Look at me!" shrieked the fourteen year old. "Now I'm all wet because of her! This wouldn't have happened to me if she were here in the first place! If she's having a grand old time with those stupid turtle-ducks again, Spirits help me, I'll…"

Ming tuned her out, rolled her eyes and continued working. Haruki thought so much of herself, just because she was one of the oldest of the younger servants. She was always pampering herself and trying to make herself look as beautiful as possible, which—Ming had to admit—she always did.

Ming looked back up at Haruki, now muttering to herself that she could not possibly walk through the palace looking like she just got out of a sewer and she would have to ask a sick servant if she could borrow her clothes for the rest of the day while hers dried.

Ming narrowed her eyes at Haruki. _She's so full of herself! _She thought angrily. She watched as Haruki tossed her long, ebony hair out of her field of vision, picked up the wet rag from the bucket and continued scrubbing the pillar she was cleaning. Ming had to admit…she _was _pretty. She almost had the body of a woman, though some of her features were…lacking. Her lashes long and dark, and her eyes were almost the same color as honey. She was tall and svelte and when she walked, it was with the grace of a dancer in the market square.

Ming sighed turned back to her job of floor-cleaner. "_Please_ hurry up, Yu-Lin," she muttered. "If I have to hear Haruki whine about one more thing, I think I'll go insane!" And she scrubbed the floor vigorously in her frustration.

After five minutes, she heard a voice in the doorway call her name and she looked up. There was Yu-Lin smiling and waving at her, standing next to Princess Ursa. Ming hastened to get to her feet and bowed at the Princess. She tried to say a word of greeting to her, but her mouth had gone dry.

She took a breath and opened her mouth again to try to speak when Haruki cried, "_There_ you are, Yu-Lin! It's about time you got here! Look at—" she stopped when she caught sight of the elder Princess. She took one shocked look at her, and quickly bent at the hips in a bow. Ursa smiled down at both of them then said, "Yu-Lin has been with me for the time being, that's why she's a bit late." She turned to face the young girl beside her. "Goodbye, Yu-Lin. It was nice talking to you." She patted her head, and looked at the other two girls. "Good day," she said, and left. Once gone, Haruki rounded on Yu-Lin.

"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?" she demanded. "We've been working our butts off in here, and you just randomly decide to show up with a smile on your face like you enjoyed watching us break our backs scrubbing the pillars and floor! Look what you did to me!" She flung her arms to the side so Yu-Lin could see that her clothes were soaked.

Yu-Lin blinked and looked at Ming who just rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!" continued Haruki. Yu-Lin stared back at Haruki and said, "I'm sorry for having troubled you, Haruki. But you shouldn't blame me that you got your job of washing the pillar confused with washing your clothes."

And with that, she went to Ming's bucket and started wringing the wet cloth dry, leaving the fourteen year old rooted to her spot looking angry and flabbergasted. Ming, on the other hand, looked disturbed. She knew when Yu-Lin acted that way she was upset about something. Ming decided to find out what.

"Hey," she whispered, kneeling down to her level, "what's wrong? What's bothering you?"

Yu-Lin was silent for a moment as she absentmindedly replaced the cloth in the bucket and wrung it over and over again. After the fifth time she did this, she submerged the cloth and her hands in the soapy water and left them there and stared down at them.

"Her Excellency, Princess Ursa is troubled about something," she finally said, her voice barely audible.

"Huh?" said Ming, leaning closer to hear. In the background, Haruki stomped back to her bucket and started scrubbing a pillar, muttering to herself. Yu-Lin and Ming ignored her completely.

"What did you say?" inquired Ming again. Yu-Lin looked at the water once more, then looked at Ming, her expression one of utmost seriousness.

"Princess Ursa is worried about something," she repeated.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But she told me she couldn't sleep last night. And when she does, she has terrible dreams: Like something bad is going to happen. She sounded really unnerved about it." Ming stared at her, then at the ground, her eyes narrowed, thinking.

"Granny Asami says that sometimes the Spirits grant visions to those they feel are in some kind of danger…or as a warning of some kind," she said, referring to an elder servant of around sixty-seven who was a great believer in the Spirits and their World. She wasn't really her grandmother, but the old woman was so kind and loving to everyone, that the other servants just started calling her that one day and the name stuck. Granny Asami didn't seem to mind one bit.

"You think the Spirits are giving her Excellency a vision of something bad then?" asked Yu-Lin, worried. Ming shifted her gaze to her.

"Anything is possible, I suppose," she said. "But…" she got up and stretched. "…I don't feel much like discussing something that has to do with the Spirits and their _mystical powers_," she formed imaginary quotation marks with her hands. "We still have to finish up here."

"Does anywhere else need to be cleaned?" asked Yu-Lin. "You and Haruki are practically finished here anyway."

"The sparring room still needs to be cleaned. I'll meet you over there; I have to fill this bucket with water again," replied her friend as she picked up the empty bucket and cloth and placed it inside. "I'll see you later." Yu-Lin nodded and left.

* * *

Water sloshed over the side of the bucket as Yu-Lin set it down once again to rest and catch her breath. She wiped sweat from her forehead and said, "At this rate, I'll never make it to the sparring room." Nevertheless, she picked up the wooden bucket and went on her way.

She continued on carrying her heavy load, when she suddenly felt it become considerably lighter. She looked to her right, and saw Ty Lee, who apparently snuck up behind her and was helping her carry the bucket between them.

"M-M-Miss Huang!" stammered Yu-Lin. "Y-you don't have to do that! Please, you shouldn't soil your hands to help me."

Ty Lee just smiled and said, "Don't be silly: I _want_ to help you. It's the least I can do after…what Azula did to you the other day." She said the last bit with a hint of remorse in her voice. Yu-Lin didn't say anything…she knew what Ty Lee was talking about.

"I want to apologize for her," she continued, her voice sounding more remorseful. "She shouldn't have done that to you." She looked at the servant. "It was totally uncalled for. I'm sorry."

They both stopped and said no more. Yu-Lin stared down at the floor, shocked, and Ty Lee looked directly at her, eyes filled with sympathy. They were both silent for a while.

"Thank you," whispered Yu-Lin, breaking the silence. "But…it's all right—"

"No, it's not!" interrupted Ty Lee, her voice fierce. "You shouldn't have to go through that—nobody should! What she does is down right mean to you. You should stick up for yourself!"

"I can't," breathed Yu-Lin.

"Huh?"

"I can't do it. She's the princess, if I say one word against her…she'll have me punished. And punishments here…" Yu-Lin's voice trailed away as she absentmindedly place a hand to her neck. Ty Lee gently placed the bucket on the floor; the servant girl following suit.

The nobleman's daughter then sighed briskly and placed her hands on her hips, a confident smile on her face. "Look at me, Yu-Lin," she said to her. The servant looked, and was slightly confused as to why she was looking at her the way she was.

"You said you don't want to be punished by Azula right?" Yu-Lin nodded, and Ty Lee continued by saying, "Well then, I guess I'll have to protect you from her, like Prince Zuko is!"

"What?!" exclaimed Yu-Lin, now more confused than ever as to Ty Lee's suddenly jubilant attitude.

Ty Lee nodded and carried on saying, "That's right! I'm going to help him protect you from Azula. You know why?" she challenged her.

Yu-Lin responded by shaking her head, as to which Ty Lee countered by taking both her hands and holding them in hers and saying softly, "Because I'm your friend. Don't you ever forget that. I'm your friend and friends stick by each other. I promise, I'll do my best to make sure Azula doesn't hurt you. Ok?"

Yu-Lin smiled widely, and her eyes filled with tears once more as she expressed her deepest gratitude to Ty Lee who smiled and told her that it was the least she could do.

"So," she said, once Yu-Lin stopped crying tears of joy and the two had picked up the bucket once again, "where are we going with this thing anyway?"

"The sparring room," replied Yu-Lin. "I have to clean it. Ming's coming too, she said she'll help me."

"Oooh. Okay, then," said Ty Lee, her voice filled with bubbly happiness.

They made fair progress as they walked together through the palace, and what seemed like no time at all, they had reached the sparring quarters. It was its own room, secluded from the rest of the palace—its only connection to it a small hallway joining it with the palace.

The two young girls had set their bucket of water onto the floor and Yu-Lin peered inside to make sure no one—mainly Azula—was inside. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of two boys sparring each other using their firebending skills in the center of the room. She recognized one of them as Prince Zuko. Both boys were wearing training outfits.

In a dark corner of the room, stood a man of middle age, with graying hair tied in a topknot, a moustache, and beard. He wore a sleeveless black shirt lined with silver, and matching pants. On his feet, he wore dark flexible shoes to go with his ensemble.

He was watching the two young boys very closely; his arms folded across his chest a small frown upon his face. Yu-Lin deduced that the man was obviously the boys' teacher.

"Is there anybody in there?" whispered Ty Lee from behind her. The servant girl jumped; she had forgotten she was there.

"Yes," said Yu-Lin, looking at her. "Prince Zuko is sparring with someone, and there's a man watching them. I think he might be their teacher."

"Indeed, I am," said a deep voice from the doorway. The two girls nearly jumped out of their skin. They took a step back from the now widely open door, and looked up into the face of the Sparring Teacher.

"Can I help you?" he asked them, his tone unpleasant. Ty Lee and Yu-Lin remained quiet, until someone broke the silence.

"Hi, Yu-Lin," said Prince Zuko, coming from behind his teacher, smiling widely at his friend. He looked at Ty Lee, and his voice became menacing. "Ty Lee," he uttered, glaring at her. "Why are you here? Have you come to pick on Yu-Lin again?" he demanded of her.

She looked taken aback at the sudden accusation but she stood her ground and said, "No. For your information, I helped her carry this heavy bucket all the way over here! I would never dream of picking on her! Why should I?"

"Well, you didn't do anything the last time Azula tormented her, so…" replied the Prince, his voice trailing away.

"Well, those days are over!" countered Ty Lee. "I vowed to protect her from Azula for as long as I live! Yu-Lin and I are friends now," she added, giving the servant girl a tight hug, and giggling. Yu-Lin looked at Zuko and gave him a weak smile of embarrassment.

"It's true," she said. Zuko looked from Yu-Lin to Ty Lee, then sighed and said, "Okay. But remember, Ty Lee…you promised." He golden eyes stared directly into Ty Lee's gray ones, all warmth within them gone and replaced by cold steel. His eyes seemed to challenge her, as if he wanted to prove to himself that she was lying. Ty Lee just smiled gave him a salute in response.

"Are you here to clean the sparring room then, little girl?" asked the Sparring Teacher. Yu-Lin nodded.

"Well then, Prince Zuko," he said turning his attention to him, "I guess your training is over for today. You are improving, but you still need a lot of work to do. I will see you tomorrow. Xian!" he called to the boy, still standing in the middle of the room. "Come along, it is time to go home."

"Coming, Father," said Xian, and he ran to his side. Xian's father turned to face Zuko, who bowed and said, "Good-bye, Xian. Good-bye, Sifu Jeong Jeong."

Jeong Jeong nodded his head and left while his son lingered a bit and started giving Zuko moves to work on before they meet again. It was only after his father called his name again did he run to meet him, but not before saying that he hoped Zuko would take to heart what he said, and that his sparring would become much better the next time they meet.

Ty Lee stared at the pair of them as they left. Once out of earshot she asked Zuko, awestruck, "_That was Admiral Jeong Jeong? He _trains you?"

"Yeah," said Zuko, with the air of someone saying that they ride hogmonkeys for a living. "He trains both Xian and me at the same time. When we've mastered a move of some kind, we spar together and see if we can use it properly," he explained. "But enough about that, Yu-Lin has cleaning to do. I'm going to go change." With that, he left the two girls alone in silence.

"Well," said Ty Lee, picking up the bucket and looking at Yu-Lin, "c'mon! We've got cleaning to do!" Then, without waiting for her, she proceeded to walk into the room, Yu-Lin trailing behind her, confused.

"Wait, you're helping me?" she asked, as Ty Lee set the bucket down, wrung the wet cloth dry, and started scrubbing the floor, on her hands and knees.

"Of course," she said, looking up and smiling. "That's what friends do!" Yu-Lin smiled and went to help her. She looked around for another cloth, then, realizing there was no other, she tore off a piece of her dress and used it instead.

The two of them worked for some time, talking to one another and getting to know each other a little more. Ty Lee discovered that Yu-Lin's father—once a servant as well—had died before she was even born; hanged himself on the palace grounds near the turtle-duck pond. After this morbid piece of information, the two continued working in silence.

After a while, the entrance door slamming open broke the silence. The girls looked up from their work, and saw Azula and Mai walking in. The hand Ty Lee held the cloth in was clutched tightly around it, her knuckles white while Yu-Lin quickly looked away, pretending fruitlessly to be invisible.

Azula looked from Ty Lee to Yu-Lin and smirked devilishly. "Ty Lee," she said, walking towards Yu-Lin and roughly pulling her hair so hard that the servant girl out a small yelp of pain. "Why are you on your hands and knees with this trash?" The Princess looked down at Yu-Lin, a demonic grin on her lips.

The nobleman's daughter made an effort to help Yu-Lin but stopped herself. "I…uh…" she stammered. What was Azula going to say when she found out she had befriended Yu-Lin? Will she treat her the same way?

_Yes_, she thought.

"You wouldn't be helping her would you?" sneered Azula, pulling Yu-Lin's hair even harder so that she gave a tiny scream. "Are you telling me your friends with such garbage?" continued the Princess scathingly.

Ty Lee hesitated. She looked from the helpless girl to the powerful, intimidating Princess as if deciding whom to choose. Finally she said, "No…of course not." She bit her tongue.

Yu-Lin's eyes—which were already filling up with painful tears—widened in horror. What happened to everything she told her a mere minutes ago as they walked together? What happened to her being her friend?

_It was a lie_, she thought, her eyes filling up rapidly with more tears, which flowed down her face.

"That's what I thought," spat Azula, letting go of Yu-Lin and thrusting her away as if she were something unpleasant and slimy.

"You have ten seconds," she said indifferently, conjuring up fire in between her hands. "The old hags said I should practice my aim," she continued, referring to the old two twin women, Lo and Li, who trained her. "What better way to perfect that than with a moving target?" she sneered.

Yu-Lin gasped and hastily mad to stand and run, but before she could move and inch, Azula screamed, "Time's up!" and hurled fire in her direction.

Yu-Lin quickly dodged out of the way and ran to the opposite end of the room, Azula enjoying her victim's peril and sneering. The Princess hurled another fireball at the helpless young girl, who nearly missed it by serving out of the way just in time.

Azula's laugh was like a death sentence. She continued to laugh and throw fireball after fireball at the poor servant until her laughter caught in her throat and was replaced by a yelp of surprise.

Prince Zuko had come unnoticed by any of them, from behind her and swiped his foot underneath her. His sister came crashing to the floor, stunned and furious.

The Prince, now dressed in his normal clothing, straightened up and folded his arms. "Leave Yu-Lin alone," he ordered, "and get out."

His sister growled, flipped over, and stood up facing him.

"I have sparring lessons now _Zuzu_," she spat, "I have to be here."

"The two monsters won't be here for a while," countered Zuko. "Now leave." Azula said nothing, gave a contemptuous look at her brother and she and Mai left. As soon as she was gone, Zuko ran to Yu-Lin's side.

"Are you all right?" he asked, putting an arm around her. She nodded, too shaken up to speak. The Prince smiled, which was quickly erased and replaced with a frown, and he turned his attention to Ty Lee still sitting on the floor with the bucket and cloth.

"I thought you said you were going to protect Yu-Lin!" he yelled at her. Yu-Lin looked up at him and was almost as frightened of him as she was of his sister. His voice was cold and accusatory, and the kindness within his eyes was replaced with cold anger and hatred. It was almost as if he were a completely different person.

At the Prince's words, Ty Lee flinched.

"You swore, Ty Lee—you vowed! Why didn't you do anything?!" demanded Zuko, holding on to Yu-Lin tightly.

Ty Lee remained quiet, not able to say anything. She was too ashamed to speak and instead she stared at the ground, tears filling her eyes.

"You said you were Yu-Lin's friend," continued Zuko relentlessly, "start acting like it." He then led Yu-Lin away, leaving Ty Lee in the empty room, crying silently.

* * *

**Ok, there you have it! The third chapter! I got to tell you that this took FOREVER to write. I was working on it all day yesterday until midnight, then I had to go to bed, but I continued to write the ending (which in my opinion is really good considering it was written at 2 in the morning) down in a notebook so I won't forget it, and I just finished now at, like, noon. **

**So I really hope you like it! Yes, Jeong Jeong has a son! I don't know why, but ever since I created Xian, I thought of his dad to be an Admiral or Lieutenant. Zhao would have been too obvious, and I really didn't want him to be a father, so I thought "why not JJ? He's cool enough. And all that discipline he's talks about would be perfect for him to drill into the mind of a kid!" So there he is, Xian: The son of the greatest firebender ever! **

**Oh, and one more thing: I'm thinking of splitting this story into parts. Like this:**

**Part I: childhood--Zuko's banishment**

**Part II: Zuko's banishment--wandering around looking for him **

**Part III: Wandering--present canon/season 3**

**What do you think? They're all going to be chronicling Yu-Lin and what she goes through but I just want to get your opinion of it. If I do something like this, will you read them? I'm planning to have them have with the same first title, like "Madoka Ame:" then something else. Like a series. Anyway, just wanted to get your opinion on it is all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Oh, and a little parting gift before I stop my rambling, SEASON THREE PREMIERS SEPT. 21****st****! MAKE SURE YOU WATCH IT!! If you can't watch it…then Tivo it or something. BUT WATCH IT! See you in chapter 4! I'm wiped!**


	4. The Most Beautiful Flower

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the late update, but I was having trouble coming up with a beginning for it! Anyway, I would like to thank my reviewers:**

**Hiko-chan**- For being kind enough to tell me her thoughts about my idea for this story, so thank you very much for that! I appreciate it!

**Razzledazzle41191- **Thank you very much for the review! Ty Lee will eventually get off her $$ and help Yu-Lin at some point, so don't worry.

**Twilight Rose2-** Lol. Thanks for the enthusiastic review. Here's chapter 4 for you! Hope you like it!

**Disclaimer- **I don't own Avatar: TLA. But, I do wish I will be able to work at Nicktoons Studio at some point in my life. That'll be awesome.

**The Most Beautiful Flower**

Prince Zuko's fist barely grazed his opponent's face, as he quickly moved out of his range. Xian smirked and countered the Prince's move with one of his own; he ducked and, quick as lightening, embedded his own fist in Zuko's stomach.

Prince Zuko felt all the wind leave him, as he grasped his stomach and fell to his knees. It took him a while before he finally regained his composure and started to intake air in sharp breaths. Finally, still sputtering and coughing, he stood up and faced his friend.

"Did you have to hit me so hard?" he asked him, rubbing his sore stomach. Xian snorted, folded his arms, and gave Zuko a piercing look, though he spoiled his composition with a smirk.

Xian was the same age as Zuko, with dark hair, parted in the middle of his head and long, shaggy bangs framing his face. He had handsome facial features, which some said was made possible because his mother had prayed to the goddess Nu Kua—who was supposedly very beautiful—at his birth.

He was a skilled firebender, being trained at the palace alongside Prince Zuko, as well as his home, whenever his father had free time when he was not training others in the navy.

"Well, if you're ever in a fight, or Agni Kai or something, your opponent isn't going to go soft on you and punch lightly," Xian said. "You have to come at them with full force" he punched his fist into his hand as he said this, "or they'll think you're weak and won't take you seriously…or at all for that matter."

"That is completely wrong, Xian," said Jeong Jeong, walking towards the two kids. He had been in his usual spot, watching them from the shadows of the sparring room. "It is not about how much strength you have in your punches or kicks: it is how you are able to control that strength and how you use your power to defeat your opponent. Did I teach you nothing?" He gave a stern look at his son, who looked at the ground and said nothing.

Jeong Jeong placed his arms behind his back and looked from his son to the Prince, who watched him closely. The firebending Master sighed once and placed his arms at his sides.

"You may take a break, but come back here soon. I want to teach you a new move. It takes a lot of time to perfect, so I want you here as soon as you two are refreshed. Understand?" he told them.

The two nodded and left their teacher who then sat down and meditated in silence.

* * *

In the courtyard, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai were laughing and playing together as flower blossoms and birds floated and sang around them. Azula and Ty Lee were practicing how to do cartwheels while Mai sat near the tree and watched them.

She stared at Azula's failed attempt at doing a perfect cartwheel and landing on her butt, and had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting into hysterics. Azula glared as Ty Lee performed a flawless cartwheel, and she angrily stood up, pouting and folding her arms.

After a few minutes, they heard two voices coming from the open-air corridor and becoming steadily louder. All three turned to look at who was coming and saw Prince Zuko and Xian, talking to each other, looking hot and sweaty. They deduced that they had just come from a training session.

"Oh, it's Xian!" cried Ty Lee, enthusiastically and waving at the two boys. "Hi, Xian!"

"Hello, Ty Lee," replied the boy, only giving her a quick glance, and waving indifferently. The others then eventually caught his eye, and he looked fully out the window and saw Azula and Mai looking at both him and Zuko. He smirked and leaned against the window, his elbows on the railing.

"Miss Mai," he said, nodding in her direction. "It's nice to see you here this afternoon. You're looking quite nice today...especially with all these flower petals floating around. You positively glow."

Mai scowled at him, and stuck out her tongue. She didn't take kindly to being the center of attention of his flirtatious remarks. In truth, she didn't really care much for Xian at all and just wished him to leave somewhere and never return so she wouldn't have to see his stupid smirking face again.

Xian's smirk broadened at Mai's show of utter dislike of him, and he turned his attention to the Princess instead. His eyes narrowed devilishly, as he saw her eyes widen and a small red flush come across her face. He laughed softly to himself as he saw her composure slip from one of jealous anger, to one of embarrassment.

"Princess," he said, smoothly. "My, don't you look lovely today? The flowers compliment your beauty, and your ivory skin seems to shine in the sun. You are a picture of perfection."

From behind him, Zuko rolled his eyes. He always acted this way when Azula was involved. It was a known fact that she had a small crush on him, and he took it upon himself to make her feel as uncomfortable as possible when she was around him. He seemed to get a kick out of it.

Xian's "good mood" brightened as he saw that Azula said nothing and just held one arm in another, and stared at the ground, the blush in her cheeks growing a deeper shade of red.

Zuko just stared at him as if he could not believe his eyes. He groaned and slapped his hand across his forehead as Xian continued to flirt with Azula and now started moving on to Ty Lee, who, not surprisingly, responded to everything he said to her.

The Prince didn't find this at all surprising, seeing as how Ty Lee and Xian had known each other for a while—even before she had become friends with Azula. She encouraged his flirting with questions and statements of her own and they would go back and forth with each other, until they got tired of playing their little game and thought of a new one.

Zuko couldn't think of anything else to do, besides wait for Xian to get fed up with his little game, so he folded his arms and leaned against the wall, bored. He stared up at the ceiling and started to count the flower petals that managed to make their way into the hallway.

He got to number fifteen when he saw a figure coming towards him out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw Yu-Lin carrying a large basket of clothes, no doubt on her way to the laundry room. He took one quick look at his sister to make sure she didn't notice her and was glad to see that Xian was keeping her busy, so he made a dash to help Yu-Lin with her basket.

"Thank you," she said as he took a handle from her and they shared the weight of the basket between them.

"No problem," he answered, smiling. The two walked a few paces in silence, and Zuko turned his head to look out the window and what he could see of the flowers that weren't obscured by the three girls outside.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" asked Yu-Lin, following his gaze.

"Huh?"

"The flowers," she said. "That's what you're looking at right?"

"Oh…yeah," replied the Prince, smiling nervously at her, embarrassed that she had caught him off guard.

From the courtyard, Mai's eyes followed the Prince and servant girl talking and smiling. Mai's eyes narrowed at the two of them and her hands became fists as jealousy consumed her. How dare that girl become so close Prince Zuko! It was not her place, she should let him be!

She wasn't the only one who noticed the pair. Azula had as well, and she formed her hands into fists like her. She started to shake with anger because she knew she couldn't do anything to the servant while her brother was around her. Ty Lee noticed her friends' unease and sighed with relief. Yu-Lin was spared…for today.

"Hey, it's you," said Xian, pointing to Yu-Lin as she and Zuko came closer, "the girl from the other day."

"Xian, this is Yu-Lin," gesturing from the boy to the servant. "Yu-Lin, this is Xian. He's my training partner…you might remember him from a couple days ago."

"Of course I do," said Yu-Lin. "You're the son of the honorable Admiral Jeong Jeong. It's a great honor meet you." She bowed in respect.

"It's nice to meet you too," he answered, smiling. He looked from her to the basket of clothes and back. "So…" he said, "you're on your way to do some cleaning?"

"Well, actually, I'm just passing these clothes on to my mother. She's the one who washes them. What about you two?"

"Zuko and I are just on our break, so we came out here to get some fresh air. But these three lovely ladies," added Xian, turning his head as he waved a hand in the direction of the three girls outside and smirking, "caught my eye and I haven't been able to move because of their beauty." He then looked at Yu-Lin and took her free hand, placed it near his mouth as though about to kiss it, and said, "But now that I see you, I—"

"All right, that's enough," said Zuko, walking briskly and dragging the basket as well as Yu-Lin behind him. "Come on Yu-Lin, you have to get these things to the wash room right? Let's go. I'll see you later, Xian."

"It was nice meeting you!" she called as she and Zuko headed to the washroom. Xian watched them go, a sly smile spreading across his face.

* * *

Jeong Jeong demonstrated to the two boys when they had returned from their break—albeit later than he had wished—how to create the Whip of Fire.

"_Choon Be!_" shouted Jeong Jeong, and the two of them got in their ready positions and watched their Master. "Now, this technique requires almost all your concentration. You need to keep the whip aflame for as long as possible. I will walk you through the steps first, and you will show me the technique without the use of fire. Then, when I feel that you are ready, you will show me the final move individually _with _fire."

He gave the two boys individual attention as they learned the new technique, which they went through five or six times to make sure they got it right. When he was satisfied they had memorized the move, he pulled Zuko aside, made him show the finished move with the use of fire.

"Remember to concentrate and focus on your _chi_ and breath," he told the Prince. "Keep the flame lit for as long as possible, and make it as long as you can."

"Yes, sir," replied the young Prince, nodding.

"Very well…_Say Jak!_"

Zuko closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might. He focused on his energy, his _chi, _and how it flowed through his body. He could sense his Master and Xian watching him, so he ordered himself not to screw up. He inhaled through his nose and performed the movements, praying that fire was making its way out of his hands. He felt them become warm, and a heated arc over his head, and then…nothing. He opened his eyes to see his teacher frowning at him, and he looked away.

"_Shee Yoe,_" said Jeong Jeong, and Zuko took a normal posture. "You have no need to look away, Prince Zuko. You did a fair job, and your performance was what I expected seeing as how this is a new move for both of you. But you failed to concentrate on the fire long enough. It appeared in your hands for a brief moment, but then quickly evaporated into nothing. Try to concentrate more next time. Xian, you're—"

The door burst open at that exact moment, and the three males turned their heads to see whom it was that interrupted them. Lo and Li were standing guard over Azula, who had her arms folded across her chest and a smirk plastered on her face in the doorway.

"It is time for the Princess's lesson, I believe," said Lo. "So I think it best if you three leave," finished Li. Jeong Jeong was silent for a moment, then turned to his two pupils and said, "Very well. We will continue this lesson tomorrow then." The two pupils bowed to their teacher, and they left the room in silence.

Xian waved good-bye to Zuko as the Prince ran off to his room to change clothes, while he and his father walked back towards the palace. Xian looked on as his father walked ahead of him, hands behind his back and shoulders straight, face immobile as stone. He smiled to himself as he mimicked his father's stance.

"Xian," said Jeong Jeong, stopping suddenly and catching the boy off guard, so that he stumbled into his father. Jeong Jeong turned to look at his son and said, "I am going to leave you at home with your mother, but then I must come back—"

"Can't you just stay home for once?" pleaded Xian. Jeong Jeong looked sternly at him and he quickly said, "Sorry. I know…you have duties to the Fire Lord. It's just…you're always here and never home…and the only time you _are_ home it's only for a couple hours or something and the only time I get to spend time with you is when you train me. I hardly ever see you."

Jeong Jeong sighed and kneeled so that he was level with his son. "Someday, you will understand why I do this. When you are older, you will have duties to the Fire Lord too. But now is not the time to discuss this. I must take you home."

"Yes, sir."

And with those two words, father and son proceeded on their way.

* * *

Yu-Lin hummed to herself as she stood gazing up at the tree's blossoms in the courtyard in the late afternoon. She had taken it upon herself to give herself a break from working and, having decided that she rarely saw the blossoms at all today, ended up here.

She was so mesmerized by the blossoms; she didn't notice Prince Zuko—now in his everyday attire—walking through the open-air hallway. He spotted her by herself, and, smirking deviously to himself, quietly snuck up behind her, placed his hands over her eyes and whispered, "Guess who," in her ear.

"Uhh…Prince Zuko…I hope," was her nervous reply. Zuko's face lit with surprise and hurt as he removed his hands from her eyes. He moved beside her and peered at her face. "You were expecting someone else?" he asked. She nodded.

"I thought it was Azula. It seems like something she would do…sneak up behind you and hurt you. And seeing as how I'm her favorite target…" Her voice trailed away, and she gazed at the ground.

"Well, Azula's training right now, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides…I'm with you. She won't be hurting you as long I'm around," said the Prince, patting her head and smiling. "Okay?"

"Okay," replied Yu-Lin, smiling and nodding. The children laughed heartily for a moment, then drifted off into silence, where Yu-Lin continued to look up at the blossoms on the tree.

"You really like the flowers, huh?" asked Zuko. He had been watching her out of the corner of his eye as she nodded.

"I haven't gotten a good look at them at all today so I thought I might get a glimpse of them while I can before I get back to work," she replied.

"Oh," said Zuko, joining her in her gazing of the blossoms. They were indeed, pretty. He had always looked at them from a distance rather than up close, and now that he actually saw them in front of him like this, he was in awe at how pretty they really were. He took in a deep breath, smelling their sweet, honey, scent.

"Look," said Yu-Lin, pointing to a tree branch, where all the blossoms but one bloomed. "I wonder why that one hasn't become a flower yet." Zuko followed her hand and saw what she was talking about. He was silent for a moment as he thought about how he should answer her.

"Well," he said, choosing his words carefully, "maybe it hasn't found its inner strength yet."

"Hasn't found its inner strength?" asked Yu-Lin, confused. Zuko nodded. "Everything in the world gathers its strength from the sun," he explained, "and flowers have two kinds of strengths: outer and inner. Their outer strength comes from direct sunlight and their inner strength comes from themselves—how they would like to look and appear to people and the other flowers."

Yu-Lin stared at the Prince as he said this, not knowing what to say. She listened intently as he continued.

"I don't think that one knows what it wants to look like to people and the other flowers yet, so it hasn't bloomed; it's shy," he said. "But you know what?" He turned his head to look at Yu-Lin, smiling. She stared back, waiting.

"I bet that when that bud finally blooms," he said, "it'll be the prettiest flower on the tree."

"You think so?" asked Yu-Lin. The Prince nodded and he moved away from the tree and sat, Indian style, on the grass. The servant girl followed and sat down next to him, her knees to her chest.

Zuko leaned back on his hands and looked up at the sky, the ghost of a smile on his face. "You know, Yu-Lin," he said, "you remind me of that flower bud." The girl snorted.

"Yeah right," she said. "I'm not pretty."

"You just haven't found your inner strength yet. You're quiet and shy and you're not sure how you want to present yourself to people—especially Azula," said Zuko, looking at the girl. "But you know what, Yu-Lin?" he said as he picked a white flower and placed it in her hair above her left ear, "I'm sure that when you do find your inner strength…you'll be the most beautiful flower in the palace."

Yu-Lin blushed as the Prince smiled warmly at her. She then pulled a face and said, "I think Xian's flirting has rubbed off on you, Prince Zuko." He just laughed.

Unbeknownst to both of them, however, someone was watching them from the open-air hall. Mai glared at the pair of them, her hands holding on the railing so tightly, they hurt. She scowled at Yu-Lin and how she could act so calmly around the Prince, while she, Mai, could barely talk while he was around. Why was Yu-Lin closer to Zuko than she?

_Leave him alone. Stay away from him, he's mine!_ Thought the dark haired girl angrily, knowing full well that just standing on the side-lines while they had fun together wasn't going to solve her problems. Something needed to be done about this…and fast.

* * *

**Well, there you all have it! Chapter four! I hope you all like it! And hark! What is this? The Green Monster of Jealousy rears its head, in the form Mai—the dark-haired, emo girl! She's not too happy now that she sees Zuko and Yu-Lin spending time together laughing and joking. What's she going to do now? Stay tuned to find out! Reviews will be appreciated and thank you all for reading. Chapter five will be out whenever I have free time which is going to be limited now that I have a job, and school will be starting tomorrow for me, so I request that you all be patient with me. Again, thank you all and I hope you enjoy chapter four.**

**Oh, and one more thing: I know _technically_ that the phrases that Jeong Jeong says in Korean, "Say Jak," "Choon Be," and "Shee Yoe" are for Tae-Kwon-Do, but I couldn't find phrases for the Northern Shaolin martial art style that the firebenders do, so I had no choice but to settle with those. I hope no one minds. **

**And if you're interested in what the phrases mean, here are the meanings.**

**"Say Jak"-- begin**

**"Choon Be"-- ready position**

**"Shee Yoe"-- rest **


	5. A New Enemy

**Hey, everyone! I'm sorry for the long wait for chapter 5; I've been really busy lately. So, because everyone's been waiting for a while, without further ado, I would like to present to you Chapter 5! Please enjoy and reviews will be appreciated. I would like to say thanks to** Twilight Rose 2razzledazzle41191 Hiko-chan**, and **Kristen**! Thank you all so much. I'm very happy some of you got the "Mulan" theme seeing as how that was what I was going for. Again, thank you!**

**A New Enemy**

Mai was in her room, lying on her bed, glaring at the ceiling, her face expressionless. She had laced the fingers of her hands together and placed them on her stomach, which moved up and down with the rhythm of her breathing. She listened to her breath flowing in and out of her body as she glared at the space above her, a small scowl now forming on her face, her emotions starting to betray her at last. Her exterior shell looked calm, but in her head, her thoughts were racing of the event she had witnessed a couple of days ago.

_This isn't fair, _thought Mai, angrily. _She's no one! She's stupid! She's…she's… the lowest of the low, why is Prince Zuko with her? He shouldn't even talk to someone like her!_

Mai gave a frustrated sigh, flipped over on her stomach, and buried her face in her large, red, silk pillow, placing her hands on either side of it, curling them into loose fists. She then started to scream inside her pillow and beat her arms and legs against her mattress, completely frustrated and enraged. She stopped abruptly when she heard a knock at her door.

"Mai, dear," she heard her mother say from the other side of the wall, "Are you all right? I heard you scream. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Mom," replied the girl. "I'm fine." She held her breath as she strained her ears; she exhaled when she heard her mother's footsteps die away and it was silent. She quickly sat up in bed and grasped the edge of her mattress and glowered at the ground.

"It's not fair," she whispered. "It's not fair. I should be the one that Zuko talks to…the one that he laughs with…I should." She closed her eyes, bit her lip and grasped her mattress tighter; she could feel it easily bend to her will, due to it being stuffed with turkey-duck feathers.

Mai exhaled through her teeth; a hissing noise escaping her mouth as she tried to remain calm. Finally her eyes suddenly flew open as rage and jealousy consumed her and she hissed, "No one's taking the Prince away from me; he's mine!" She narrowed her eyes and said, "I'll never forgive her. I'm going to get her for this."

Mai's father was in his study for about an hour or two writing notes, looking at important maps, and marking down possible places for the Fire Lord to make new colonies when he heard a knock on the door. He turned his head and saw none other but his daughter standing in the doorway, wondering whether or not she was allowed in to speak to him.

"Mai," said her father, frowning slightly, "I'm kind of busy at the moment. Can this wait until later?"

The young girl fiddled with the hem of her skirt, took a deep breath and muttered, "I just wanted to ask you a question, Dad." Her father sighed.

"All right, what is it?" he asked sharply. "I have a lot of work to get done and I can't have any interruptions. Make it quick"

His daughter was silent for a minute, and then said in a rush of words, "Are you going to the Fire Lord's palace today?"

Her father blinked, surprised, and then answered, "Yes, after I finish these notes. I have to hand them in to Fire Lord Azulon. Why?" he added.

"Well…I was wondering if I would be able to go with you." Mai held her breath, waiting for her father to answer.

_Say "yes," _she thought desperately. _Please say "yes." _She shifted her eyes to the ground. _I have something I need to take care of there…_she thought menacingly.

Her father stroked his chin, gave his daughter a stern look, and then said calmly, "I don't see why not. I'll come get you once I've finished what I have to do here. Okay?" He smiled at Mai, who nodded and left her father to finish his work. Once she closed the door behind her with a soft "_click,_" she grinned evilly to herself.

_You're in for it now Yu-Lin. Just you wait,_ she thought as she walked back to her room to wait for her father to call for her.

* * *

It was sunset when Yu-Lin finally finished her chores for the day. She was walking towards the kitchen, dragging her feet and was thinking about how intense her day was. She was hungry, her feet ached, and she was so tired that she just wanted to lie down and fall asleep in the middle of the hallway.

The only thing that kept her moving was her grumbling stomach and the thought of finally reaching the kitchen to eat her weight in komodo chicken, steamed vegetables, fish, and soba noodles.

Her stomach growled once more and she stopped walking to place a hand on her stomach, a longing expression on her face. She sighed and said, "Don't worry stomach; we're almost to the kitchen. Then we can eat."

She made her way through the twists and turns of the palace and finally made it to the kitchen where her mother, Ming, Haruki, Granny Asami, and the other servants were already sitting on the floor; a low table in between them eating noodles, fish, and other varieties of food. Yu-Lin's mouth watered at the sight of all the food and her stomach gave a loud rumble that made everybody stare at her. The young girl blushed, embarrassed.

Then someone burst into a fit of hysterics behind her. Yu-Lin turned and saw Prince Zuko grasping his stomach with one hand, and in the middle of a wave of giggles, tears of laughter flowing down his face. From where the other servants sat, she heard them start laughing as well, and her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

"Stop laughing at me!" she yelled at the Prince, "I'm hungry, ok!" At that moment, the entire kitchen went silent. No one had ever yelled at a member of the Royal Family before…doing so would result in severe punishment.

"Yu-Lin! How _dare_ you yell at Prince Zuko!" scolded her mother. Her daughter looked at her, not knowing what to say. Her mother gave her a piercing look that was quickly erased when she addressed the young Prince. "I apologize for my daughter's rudeness, Your Highness," she said to him, bowing. "Please, forgive her. She should learn how to hold her tongue." She added as she stood straight and giving Yu-Lin another scolding look. The young servant looked and the ground, ashamed.

"It's okay," said Zuko, looking Yu-Lin. He chuckled. "I'm sorry for laughing at you, Yu-Lin. You were just too funny." And he went into another, much shorter, fit of laughter. After the Prince had regained his composure, Granny Asami asked him, smiling, "What do we owe the honor of your visit, Your Majesty?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot why I even came here," he said. He turned to Yu-Lin and told her, "I actually came to see if you were here, Yu-Lin. I didn't see you all day, and I know you must be hungry after working so hard." He then brought forth from his other hand a small folded napkin and handed it to her.

"It's sticky rice with a banana inside, wrapped in banana leaf, and glazed with honey. I heard it's really good and sweet. Try it," he said.

Yu-Lin took the napkin, unwrapped both it and the banana leaf and found a white blob inside. She managed to take the blob out of the leaf, and take a small bite. It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She smiled as she ate the sticky treat.

"Do you like it?" asked Prince Zuko, eagerly. Yu-Lin swallowed and said, "It's delicious! Thank you."

"That's good. Mai's parents came by with a platter of it. My parents and Azula already tried some and they seemed to like it."

"Why didn't you take one?" asked the young girl. Zuko shrugged. "I don't really like sweets. Besides," he smiled warmly at Yu-Lin, "I wanted you to have a treat today after you worked so much."

From behind Yu-Lin the other servants smiled at the two children. The Prince was so kind to everyone; it seemed to them that he didn't have a mean bone in his body. They had discussed to one another that the boy takes after his mother, and this example of kindness proved it.

Yu-Lin smiled and said softly to the Prince, "You're always so kind to me. Thank you." Her friend returned the smile and patted her head. "It's no big deal. You are my friend after all," he said. He waved good-bye to the other servants and Yu-Lin and headed back to the dining hall. "Make sure you thank Mai for the sweet!" he called over his shoulder to Yu-Lin, who nodded and waved good-bye.

She turned to the others and was surprised to see them all smiling at her. "That was certainly kind of His Majesty to go through all that trouble to find you and give you treat," said Jianyu, a male servant of about twenty-three, picking up his chopsticks and continuing to eat his noodles.

"Yes," piped Ming, grinning from ear to ear. "_Suspiciously_ kind, don't you think?" Huiquin chuckled and said to the pair of them, "Don't tease her you two. I'm sure His Excellency was just being nice." She turned to her daughter and said, "All right Yu-Lin; save the rest of that for later and come eat dinner."

Famished, Yu-Lin wasted no time in going to the table and eating her fill of whatever she could reach in front of her.

* * *

Now feeling full and content, Yu-Lin headed towards the servants' quarters of the palace, ready for a long dream-filled sleep. The sun had almost completely set and the sky was stained with vibrant reds and gold, mixed in with the occasional purples and pinks.

She was walking down the open-air hallway, with the sun's rays casting her shadow onto the floor, slanting it slightly, when she saw Mai leaning on the wall opposite her, her arms folded and looking up at the sky. As usual, her face was emotionless as she stared off into space; however, she showed the tiniest bit of interest in Yu-Lin when she spotted her out of the corner of her eye.

Yu-Lin froze as she felt cold fear flow through her veins like ice water. She stared at Mai, terrified. Those cold, pale, honey-colored eyes glared at Yu-Lin, making the servant cringe, and take a step back from her. She stopped, however, when she was forced to remember her duties as a servant of the Fire Lord and those nearly equal to his status. In other words…she had to talk to her. To see if she needed anything from her, or if she somehow managed to get herself lost (although seeing as how Mai was almost always with Azula, Yu-Lin doubted whether she ever, truly got lost in the palace.)

To steady herself, Yu-Lin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. She managed to place a small smile on her face, and address Mai, "Good evening, Miss Mai," she said. "Is there anything you need? Is there something I can get you?"

Mai said nothing, and continued to stare at the servant girl. Yu-Lin felt more and more uncomfortable under her hard gaze, and she was starting to get fidgety. She fidgeted with her hands as she searched her brain for something else to say to Mai.

"Umm…Prince Zuko wanted me to thank you for the sweet," she finally said, smiling. Mai's expression changed in an instant; her eyes widened slightly and her cheeks became flushed, though she continued to stay silent.

"Uh…it was very good," continued Yu-Lin. The servant girl instantly regretted her words when she saw Mai's eyes narrow and she bared her teeth in anger. "How did _you _get one?" she demanded, pointing a finger at Yu-Lin.

The servant girl took a tentative step back from Mai, fear spreading through her body again. "P-Prince Zuko gave me one. H-He had one wrapped in a napkin," she stammered.

Mai's expression changed again; her eyes widened once more and her mouth was slightly open as she remembered the exact treat Yu-Lin was talking about.

* * *

**Mai's flashback/ POV**

_I was in the kitchen helping my mother make a large platter of sticky rice for dessert that night. We worked in silence, molding the white putty with our hands, our sleeves rolled up to our elbows, exposing our bare forearms. _

"_You're father tells me that he's taking you to the Royal Palace tonight, Mai," commented my mother, after a few more minutes of silence._

"_Yes," I answered, pressing the sticky rice between my hands. _

"_Is there a reason you want to go?" asked Mother, glancing at me. I was silent for a moment, considering my answer and my words carefully._

"_Well…" I said slowly, "Umm…" but I couldn't get the words out, without telling Mother everything…including my feelings for Prince Zuko. Stalling for time, I squished the rice into my hands again, without looking at Mother. I could feel her eyes on me, and I imagined she must have a small frown on her face by now._

"_It doesn't matter," said Mother. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine; I'm not going to force you." I looked up at her, surprised and was met with the sight of my mother smiling at me. _

"_Well, if you're going, I might as well go too," continued mother, going back to work. "To make sure you behave," she added, her tone becoming more serious and deliberate as she stared at me through the corner of her eye. _

_I said nothing and looked back at the small, white, rice pancake in my hand and continued to work on it. I placed a small piece of banana in the middle of it, and covered it up with the excess sticky rice. I then drizzled on some honey, and wrapped it in a banana leaf. When it was complete, I took a few seconds to admire my handiwork._

'_It isn't perfect…but it's ok,' I thought. 'I hope he'll like it.' _

_I gazed the small treat, as felt my face heat up as I imagined giving the food to Prince Zuko. How could I give it to him without acting like a total idiot? What would he say when I gave it to him? I was quickly pulled out of my daydream however, when I heard my mother call my name._

"_Mai," she said. She had already finished making the rest of the desserts and had put them in a platter and was waiting for me at the entrance of the kitchen. "Come on, dear. Your father's going to be late…and you know how Fire Lord Azulon doesn't like to be interrupted by late visitors," she added. _

_I nodded and quickly looked around for something to wrap my present for Prince Zuko in. I found a red, cloth napkin, placed my treat in the middle of it, and tied the corners together. I clutched it to my chest and ran to my mother as she called for my father, and the three of us headed for the palace. _

_**0o0o0o**_

_I watched, bored, as my mother, Her Majesty Princess Ursa, and His Excellency Prince Ozai, chit-chatted about…something-or-other, I didn't really follow…or cared. I sat quietly beside my mother, in the dining hall, looking at the small treat in my lap, my stomach performing loop-de-loops as I waited for Prince Zuko. He, Azula, my father, and Fire Lord Azulon still hadn't arrived yet. I figured that Azula and her brother were just getting ready to come down to eat with us; just changing their clothes or something._

_The dining table was adorned with all sorts of food: roast duck, rice, noodles, steamed vegetables, roast sea slug (not one of my favorite foods), fried rice, and fruits. My insides boiled with rage as I realized that the servants had cooked all this food. There was one servant that I could not stand…and I was planning on meeting…Yu-Lin, I think that was her name, (dear Agni, I can't stand her) right after dinner._

"_Mai, stand up. The Fire Lord and the Prince and Princess are coming," hissed my mother. I clamored to my feet as the Fire Lord, Azula, and (my stomach did a flip) Prince Zuko entered the dining hall. My father was the last to enter, and bowed with the rest of us as Fire Lord Azulon, Azula, and Prince Zuko took their seats._

_Dinner seemed to last forever, but it finally ended when Fire Lord Azulon offered my mother and father, as well as the other adults, to have tea with him in a separate room in the palace. Of course, my parents agreed, saying it would be their honor to join him, Prince Ozai, and Princess Ursa. Once the adults left the table, Prince Zuko got up as well, saying he needed to get something from the kitchen. _

_My heart fluttered. If I didn't give him my treat soon, it might be too late! I glanced around; making sure no one else was at the table. Except for some servants, who stood in the shadows while we ate and were now cleaning up after us, and Azula, no one else was around._

_Azula looked at me, as if daring me to move. I held my breath, but she just shrugged and left the table. As soon as she was gone, I grabbed my treat from the table and ran after Prince Zuko, praying to the Spirits that I would catch up to him._

_Luckily, I did. _

"_P-Prince Zuko!" I called to him. To my relief, he stopped and turned around. I ran up to him, blushing furiously and breathing heavily. I tried to look at him, but I could only look down at my feet._

"_Yes…uh…Mai, right?" he asked. I nodded. We stood in silence for a while, my heart beating so fast, I thought it would explode. Finally, I managed to speak to him._

"_Um…uh…I…uhm…" was all I could spit out of my mouth. I mentally kicked myself for sounding so stupid. Thankfully, Prince Zuko didn't say anything. I took a deep breath and started again and brought the sticky rice into view._

"_I…uh…m-made this for you. I…um…I hope you like it," I stuttered, finally was able to look at him and handed him the sweet. He looked surprised at first, but then smiled at me (my stomach wriggled) and took the sweet._

"_It's sticky rice, with banana inside it. I…uh…drizzled it with honey and wrapped it in banana leaf. It's sweet," I added. _

"_Thank you," he said, smiling. "I'm sure it'll be delicious." _

_He waved at me as he went towards the kitchens and I felt as if I was flying on clouds._

* * *

**Normal POV/ Present**

"He _gave _it to you?" demanded Mai, rage now seeping through her body. She had unconsciously balled her hands into fists and she took a few steps towards Yu-Lin, who shrank back in fear.

"Y-Yes," uttered the scared servant girl, stepping away from Mai. Yu-Lin was now almost shaking with terror. Why was she so angry with her? What had she done?

"I gave Prince Zuko that sweet! I made that one especially for him!! Why did he give it to you?" shouted Mai.

"H-He said he didn't like sweets very much!" said Yu-Lin, now really shaking with fear. Mai halted in her tracks, staring at Yu-Lin, loathing her with every fiber of her being.

"He told me," she whispered to the servant girl, "he liked sweets. He said he was sure it would be delicious." Mai felt her face grow hot with humiliation, and she felt tears come to her eyes. She glared at Yu-Lin, her teeth bared, with her hands curled into tight fists at her side.

Yu-Lin tried to take a step back from the enraged young girl, but Mai suddenly shoved her against the wall. Yu-Lin stared at Mai, frightened out of her skin and not knowing what to say.

Mai was now right in front of Yu-Lin, glowering at her. She looked beside herself with anger and her pale, gold eyes showed nothing but the utmost loathing and contempt for the young servant girl.

Yu-Lin could see Mai's eyes shine with tears, as she growled, "You stay away from Prince Zuko…or I'll make you wish you were never born. Understand?"

Yu-Lin was too frightened to say anything, and just stared at Mai as she took one last hateful look at her now slumped onto the floor, and walked away, wiping angry tears out of her eyes.

* * *

**Okay, there you have it!! End of chapter 5!! Finished at 12:57 AM!!! (and updated at 11:53 AM) Again, I'm sorry for the ridiculously long wait, but I've been wicked busy, trying to figure what college I want to go to, and crap like that and it's not easy!!! So I thank you all for your patience, and please review!! I hope you like this chapter!!! I'm not too happy with the ending, but I wanted it to end with Mai threatening Yu-Lin so…I'll let you all decide about the ending.**

**And if there's some OOC, I'm terribly sorry about that. I was thinking about how a child would react to someone "moving in on their crush." I would imagine them to be quite hurt, but since their children, I don't think Yu-Lin and Mai would get into a full blown cat-fight over Zuko. So, I settled with Mai shoving Yu-Lin against the wall and threatening her. Again, if it's OOC, I'm sorry.**

**Oh, and if any of you want to do any fan art for the story, be my guest! I'd love to see your interpretations of the characters!! I've drawn some myself, because I'm lame like that I guess. Haha. But, seriously, if you want to I'll be more than happy to see them. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please read and review!!**


	6. Friend At Last

**Hey everyone!! I know, I know. It's been a long time since I uploaded a chapter, and I blame it all on WRITER'S BLOCK!! But, thankfully, I seemed to have defeated it. Lucky me!! Now, I would like to take you all to the long awaited chapter 6!! I'll thank my reviewers at the end of the chapter, so you won't have to listen to me rant. So, without further ado, here's chapter 6!! **

**Friend at last**

Rain pounded the roof of the Royal Palace from the dark, menacing clouds above. Claps of thunder were heard in the distance by Prince Zuko, who sat in his room on the floor, a Pai Sho table in front of him. He was visibly bored as he stared out his window, his elbow resting on the table and his head in his hand. His golden eyes, usually filled with life, now seemed to emanate a dull sheen and were unfocused. The young Prince sighed heavily and continued to gaze out at the rain until a soft knock on his door snapped him out of his trance.

His mother stepped inside, wearing long flowing robes of red silk lined with gold fabric at the sleeves and hem. "I came to check on you and see how you were doing," she said to Zuko, smiling and entering into the room. She sat down at the other end of the Pai Sho table and waited for her son to answer.

"Hi Mom," replied Zuko, "I'm fine, just bored. There's nothing to do. Xian can't come over because Master Jeong Jeong's too busy and his mom wants him to help her cook dinner," he explained as he put his head down on the table and buried his face in his arms.

"Well, you're sitting at a Pai Sho table," said Princess Ursa smiling, "why don't we play some Pai Sho together?"

"I already played Pai Sho," answered her son, his voice muffled.

"With whom?"

"Myself," answered Zuko miserably.

"Oh? And what was the result?"

Zuko lifted his head from his arms, stared at his mother and said flatly, "I lost," and placed his head back on the table. His mother chuckled a little bit before replying, "Well, what about Azula? You could play with her."

"I don't wanna play with her. She's better at Pai Sho than I am. And besides Mai and Ty Lee are here so she's probably hanging out with them somewhere in the Palace."

"Well, maybe you should go find them and ask if they would let you play with them."

"What?!" exclaimed Prince Zuko, facing his mother again, the expression on his face one of horror. "No way! They'd probably do freaky, crazy _girl_ things on me, like put makeup on my face or try and put me in a dress or something!! No way! I am _not _going to ask them if I could play with them. Girls…are…crazy!!" And with that said, the young Prince folded his arms and glared at his mother, pouting.

Princess Ursa was silent throughout this little outburst, but suddenly burst out laughing at her son, which he countered with a sharp, "Well it's true! Girls are _insane!!_"

"You think that now, but wait until you're older; you'll change your views," answered Ursa slyly.

"Nope! Girls are crazy and there's nothing you can say to change my mind!"

"Fine. Then you can stay here and be bored in your room," retorted Ursa, smiling.

"Huh?" said Zuko, now confused.

"Well, according to you, all girls are crazy. And, since I'm a girl, I must be crazy too. And, since you want nothing to do with insane girls like me, then you can stay in your room and be bored to tears."

"I didn't mean _you_ were crazy, Mom," said the young Prince defensively, "I just meant Azula and her friends." Zuko paused for a moment then added hastily, "And maybe some of the servants—like Ming. She can be a little crazy sometimes; it's kind of scary." Then an idea hit Zuko and his face split into an excited smile.

"The servants," he said to himself, then looked up at his mother his face alive with happiness. "Yu-Lin! She's probably not doing anything! I'm going to see if she'll play with me!"

"I think she might be working, Zuko," answered Ursa.

"Well, it's time for her to take a break," replied Zuko getting up and running out of his room. "I'm going to go find her, bye Mom!" He called, waving at his mother as he ran down the hall.

The elder Princess watcher her son leave, a little surprised at Zuko's impulsiveness. Then she laughed quietly and shook her head as she got up from the floor. "That boy," she said quietly and smiling, "he says girls are crazy, and he goes out to find one. He's so silly sometimes.

* * *

Prince Zuko's footsteps echoed down the halls of the Royal Palace as he ran searching for his friend.

"Yu-Lin!" he called, running faster, "Yu-Lin! Where are you?" The young Prince ran through the palace looking for the little servant girl. He ran through hallways, down corridors and passed doors but couldn't find her anywhere he looked.

He was so busy running around, he ran smack into Mai who was coming out from one of the many bathrooms in the Palace. He tripped over his feet and crashed into her, causing both of them to shriek and fall to the floor.

"Ouch," said Zuko, sitting up beside Mai and rubbing his head. He blinked a couple times to clear his head, and then turned to Mai who was sitting beside him, staring at him in surprise.

"Sorry about that; I didn't see you," he said as he got up and brushed himself off. Then, he offered Mai his hand. She hesitated a bit then took it. Immediately, she felt her face grow hot and she looked away and released his hand and ended up getting off the ground herself.

"Are you all right?" asked Zuko. Mai just nodded and said nothing. A few seconds later they heard footsteps running towards them and saw Ty Lee and Azula coming towards them.

"Are you all right? We heard screaming," exclaimed Ty Lee, her face stricken with worry. "What's going on? What happened?"

Zuko looked at Mai then the two girls and said, "I was running around and accidentally ran into Mai. Sorry if we worried you."

"Are you okay, Mai?" asked Ty Lee. Mai nodded and looked at her two friends. Ty Lee still looked worried while Azula just stared at her and Zuko. The younger Princess's arms were folded over her chest, and she glared at Zuko who took no notice.

"So who are you looking for, Zuzu?" asked Azula slyly, not taking her eyes off her brother. She continued to glare at him. He scowled right back at her and answered, "None of _your_ business, Azula."

"Yu-Lin? Are you looking for her?"

Zuko and Mai looked at her in surprise; Zuko because his sister had guessed correctly, and Mai because she didn't like what she heard. Ty Lee looked at all three of them, her hands clasped together near her face.

"Alright, fine! I am looking for Yu-Lin. But don't you go causing trouble for her! She hasn't done anything to you, so I don't know why you're so mean to her!" yelled Zuko. Thunder boomed from outside and the kids gave a little jump. "You leave her alone okay, Azula?"

The Prince gave one last look at his sister and her friends, turned, and ran to continue looking for Yu-Lin.

The three girls watched him leave, all three of them with a different expression on their face. Azula had an evil smirk plastered on her face; Mai's held a scowl, and Ty Lee looking scared.

"Come on," Azula finally said, turning and heading the opposite way. Mai followed the young Princess while Ty Lee hesitated a bit, and then ran after her.

"W-where are we going?" she asked once she had caught up with them.

"We're going to find Yu-Lin before Zuko does," answered Azula, now walking faster. "We've been a bored all day; a little fun wouldn't hurt us. And who better to entertain us than Yu-Lin? Don't you think so?"

Mai and Ty Lee were silent. Mai secretly agreed while Ty Lee was apprehensive about this. The nobleman's daughter didn't want anything to happen to the servant girl but she wasn't about to get in the way of Azula.

"Come on! I want to get to her before Zuko does and I don't want to waste time. Follow me!" said Azula and ran down the hallway, with her two friends behind her. However, after a few paces Ty Lee stopped and watched the Princess and Mai turn a corner and disappear.

"I can't let Azula get to Yu-Lin," said Ty Lee. "I owe it to her to help her." She remembered that day when she had a chance to help her, but she was too afraid of Azula to do something about it. She still felt bad about leaving Yu-Lin out to dry like that and she had vowed since then not to let it happen again.

Making up her mind, she squared her shoulders, balled her hands into fists, and went to find Yu-Lin.

* * *

Somewhere in the Palace, Yu-Lin was sweeping a deserted corridor, unwary of the Princess, her friends, and the Prince looking for her.

She was listening to the rain pattering on the rooftop as she swept and hummed to herself. Thunder rumbled again in the distance but she took no notice. She liked the rain; it was soothing to hear and the thunder made it more relaxing to her.

She was almost finished when she heard footsteps running towards her. She turned and saw Prince Zuko running in her direction. She smiled and bowed when he stopped in front of her to catch his breath.

"Hi, Prince Zuko," said the little girl, smiling and leaning her head on her broom.

"Hi, Yu-Lin. What are you doing?" asked the young Prince. His friend laughed and answered, "I'm sweeping, silly. What does it look like?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow and Yu-Lin caught herself and said hastily, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency! I didn't mean it how it sounded, forgive me!" She bowed again. Far from being angry at Yu-Lin, Zuko just laughed which made the girl look up in surprise.

"Don't worry about it," he said as he patted her head. "It's not like I'm going to—"

"YU-LIN!"

The two friends turned at the sound of the voice to see Ty Lee running to them, looking frantic.

"Ty Lee?! What are you doing here?" asked Prince Zuko, his emotions a mixture of surprise and anger. "Have you come to cause trouble for Yu-Lin again?"

"No!" she said, coming to a stop in front of them and catching her breath. "I've come to warn her!" she panted and looked at Yu-Lin directly in the eye. She looked confused and scared.

"You have to hide, Yu-Lin!" shouted Ty Lee, grasping the servant girl's shoulders. "Princess Azula's looking for you!"

"What?!" exclaimed the young Prince and servant girl. Zuko looked at Ty Lee as if in disbelief, and Yu-Lin looked positively frightened and began to shake and clutch the broom.

"Are you sure?" asked Zuko.

"Of course I'm sure, I was with her at the time!" snapped the nobleman's daughter. "Mai's with her too!"

"Huh? Why?"

"She doesn't like me either," said Yu-Lin, in a voice that was barely audible. The two higher authorities looked at her.

"Why not?" asked the Prince.

"We'll worry about that later!" said Ty Lee, "right now, we need to find a place to hide Yu-Lin! Follow me!" She then took the servant girl's wrist and ran with the Prince right behind them.

They moved quickly but cautiously, around pillars and statues, and behind curtains to make sure Azula and Mai were out of sight before they started to move.

They somehow ended up at the open air hallway in the courtyard, which they agreed was the worst place they could have ended up when they were trying to hide Yu-Lin. Here, they were sitting turtle-ducks.

"How did we end up here?" asked Zuko, slightly angry.

"I don't know! It's your house!" retorted Ty Lee, somewhat annoyed.

"We were following you like you told us to!"

"Well, it's not like I know where I'm going!"

"You come here almost every day and hang out with my sister, how can you _not _know where you're going?!"

Ty Lee was about to answer when the three children heard a new voice that cut through them like a cold wind.

"Well, well, look what we found," said Azula, as she and Mai walked towards them. A fresh clap of thunder bellowed from overhead and the rain poured down even harder on the Palace and its grounds.

"Ty Lee, I was wondering where you went," continued the young Princess, smirking devilishly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko move in front of Yu-Lin, and her smirk grew.

"What do you think you're doing, Ty Lee? I thought you said you weren't friends with such _garbage_," Azula spat, making Yu-Lin flinch behind Zuko. The Prince and Ty Lee exchanged looks, and then looked at Azula and Mai.

Ty Lee glanced at Yu-Lin cowering behind Zuko, then glared at Azula whose eyes widened in surprise.

"Well you thought wrong, Azula! Yu-Lin _is _my friend and I don't like the way you treat her; it's mean and cruel! No one should go through what Yu-Lin does every day because of you! And Mai, I don't care about whatever Yu-Lin did to you to make you so angry with her, but you leave her alone too!" shouted Ty Lee.

Azula looked at Ty Lee in shock and anger; no one had ever spoken to her that way before and she wasn't about to let it start with Ty Lee.

She glared at her friend and hissed, "Who do you think you are? You think you can talk to me that way?! I'll show you!"

With that threat, Azula shoved Ty Lee, almost making her fall to the ground. "I'll show you, Ty Lee!"

The Princess lunged at Ty Lee, who moved out of the way, but she wasn't quick enough. Unfortunately for her, while she was turning to avoid the Princess, Azula was able to grab her braid and clutch it tightly, causing Ty Lee to shriek in pain.

"Ouch! Don't touch me!" screeched Ty Lee, and she stomped on Azula's foot, making the Princess release her grasp.

"Ow!" exclaimed Azula, stepping back delicately and glaring at Ty Lee. "Why you!" However, before Azula could do anything more, Ty Lee shoved Azula quite hard, making her stumble backwards and fall into the muddy courtyard, where she sat, surprised and seething, covered in mud.

"Azula!" cried Mai, and rushed to help her. "Are you all right?" she asked as she helped Azula up from the mud.

"I'm fine," growled the latter as she glared menacingly at Ty Lee, Zuko, and Yu-Lin. The Prince and Ty Lee just glared right back at her, their eyes fierce with anger. Mai glanced at them too, and scowled at Yu-Lin, but said nothing.

Turning to Azula, she said, "Come on, let's get out of here. We're getting drenched." The young Princess nodded, got up from the muddy ground, and walked with Mai to go dry off, but not before the pair of them gave one last look of hatred at the three other kids.

Once gone, the three of them relaxed and Zuko stepped away from in front of Yu-Lin and faced Ty Lee, who turned and looked at the two of them. They were quiet for a while before Zuko broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Do you mean that? What you said? Do you _really_ mean it?" he asked.

"That Yu-Lin's my friend?" answered Ty Lee, and glanced at Yu-Lin then at Prince Zuko. "Yes, I mean it."

"Really?" asked the servant girl, staring at her. Ty Lee nodded smiling.

"Yup! You'd better believe it!" she answered, and smiled at Zuko, who returned it with his own smile.

"All right," he said and held out his hand, palm down. "Friends?" he asked. Ty Lee smiled and placed her hand in front of Zuko's. "Friends," she said, and the two of them looked at Yu-Lin who gladly joined in with a cheerful, "Friends!"

Then Ty Lee surprised them both by wrapping them into a group hug and laughing. After she released Yu-Lin she said to her, "I'm sorry for not doing anything the first time, Yu-Lin. I was scared that Azula will do something bad to me. But then I realized that what she does to you is ten times worse than whatever Azula could do to me." Then she looked at Zuko and said, "And I know you were mad at me for it too, Zuko. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"

Yu-Lin and Zuko exchanged looks then smiled at Ty Lee. "Of course we forgive you," they said in unison. Ty Lee laughed and gave them both hugs.

"But you have to swear that if Yu-Lin's in trouble, or if she needs help, you'll be there. Got it?" said Zuko seriously.

"Got it! You can count on it, ok Yu-Lin?" answered Ty Lee looking at the servant girl.

"Ok!" she answered, smiling widely. Zuko grinned and said, "Good. Now come on, let's go play!"

"Can we play hide and explode? It's my favorite game! Please?" asked Ty Lee eagerly. Zuko chuckled and said, "I don't know. Neither you nor Yu-Lin can really explode—"

"We can just go 'KABOOM!' really loudly when we're found! It'll be fun! Please, please, please Prince Zuko?" begged the brown haired girl. Then she turned to Yu-Lin and asked, "Don't you want to play? It'll be fun! It's better than cleaning all day! Come on play with us! Please?"

Yu-Lin laughed. "Sure," she said. "Let's play!"

"Yay!" shrieked Ty Lee then she grabbed Yu-Lin's wrist and ran down the hall calling to Zuko, "Prince Zuko, you're it! Bet you can't find us! Start counting!"

Zuko laughed as he watched them leave, then closed his eyes and began to count. After he reached fifty, he shouted, "READY OR NOT HERE I COME!" and began his search.

* * *

**OK! HERE IT IS, CHAPTER 6! Truthfully, I hate the ending! But it was 2 in the morning with I finished this and I was wicked tired, so I didn't feel like changing it. Well, I'll let you all be the judge of the ending and see how you liked it. Again, if some of the characters seem a little OOC, I apologize profusely!! Anyway, I'd like to thank my reviewers **Twilight Rose, 2razzledazzle41191, **and** Hiko-chan**! ****Thank you all very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter!! See you in chapter 7!!**


	7. Never Give Up without a Fight

**Hey everyone! Wow, been a long time since I last updated ****Madoka Ame ****huh? I'm sorry, all. I had writer's block for a long while, and I'm not sure if I'm really over it, but thanks to my Avatar: TLA obsession, and my motivation and determination to keep writing this, I finally came up with something while watching "Zuko Alone" on Nick.** **Also, college is biting me in the ass *cough-midterms-cough*, and I don't really have much time for ANYTHING these days, so it's really amazing that I can even spit out THIS chapter. **

**I would very much like to thank my reviewers, **razzledazzle41191, PoeticLover4u, Hiko-chan, **and** Ali. **Thank you all very much, and I am very sorry for the long wait. Thanks for being so patient with me while I try and keep you all interested and entertained. Your support is AWESOME! Thanks so much! Here is chapter 7 for your reading pleasure. Happy Reading! **

**Note: **This chapter takes place during some of the frequent flashbacks that Prince Zuko has during season 2 where he befriends a young Earth Kingdom boy named Lee. I'll let you guess as to which flashback it is.

**Never Give Up without a Fight**

It was early afternoon, and young Prince Zuko lay on his back, staring up at the clouds that passed by. The sun's rays warmed him and filled him with energy and the gentle breeze caressed him as the swaying of the trees added to his relaxed atmosphere. He took in a deep breath and inhaled the smell of the grass and let it fill his nostrils and wake up his senses. He enjoyed lounging around on a day like this; he had no training, none of his sisters' friends were coming over; he had the day to himself.

The young Prince folded his hands behind his head and watched as birds flew across the sky. He followed them with his eyes, until his mind began to wander. He thought about his uncle and his cousin Lu Ten in the Earth Kingdom fighting in the war. How long has it been since they left? A really long time, he thought. He missed them. But then he imagined them coming home with wonderful stories to tell him and his sister about how they had fought two-hundred Earthbenders and they were outnumbered two to one.

He was exaggerating of course, but it made him feel better about their absence and not so lonely. Zuko and Lu Ten were very close; whenever Zuko was feeling down, he would go to his cousin and in a matter of seconds Lu Ten would be able to cheer him back up again. The elder Royal child would also try and teach him some new bending moves he had learned from Iroh. Zuko loved those times; he would always keep the moves he learned from Lu Ten a secret from Azula so she wouldn't show him up. It was like having his own little secret weapon.

Cicadas buzzed around him as he reminisced and he felt himself growing sleepy underneath the warm sun. He yawned and rolled over on his side and started picking at the grass when he heard someone call his name. He flipped over on all fours and looked up to see his mother coming towards him. As she strode closer in robes of red silk, the young Prince sat up on his knees and dusted himself off and picked out pieces of grass from his hair. He smiled at her when she was in front of him.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" she asked.

"Thinking," he answered, "and enjoying the sunshine."

A cool breeze swirled around the two, lifting up bits of Princess Ursa's robes and hair and Zuko watched as they fluttered gently in the wind as his own hair in his topknot whipped around his face. His mother smiled lovingly at him then looked up at the sky.

"It is a beautiful day," she said, then looked back down at her son. "But unfortunately you have calligraphy lessons with your sister right now. Shi-Ru and Azula are waiting for you in the study."

The Prince's face fell; he had forgotten about that. He sighed dramatically.

"Do I have to?" he whined. "I write better calligraphy than Azula anyway, she's the one who needs lessons not me." His mother smirked and her eyes twinkled with laughter. It was true that her daughter was gifted in the art of Firebending—she and Zuko both knew that—but calligraphy was one of Zuko's strong points as well as weaponry. He could write beautiful sentences, poems and haikus in the most elegant handwriting that even Shi-Ru—a master calligrapher as well as their teacher—was amazed by.

"Can't I skip it just this once?" pleaded the young Prince. Ursa smiled and kneeled down to his level and playfully shoved his forehead with her index finger, careful not to scratch him with her long nails.

"No," she said and grinned. "I like you going to your calligraphy lessons because then I can read the wonderful poems and haikus you come up with. And you can show Mai and Ty Lee-"

"They're _here_?" exclaimed the Prince in horror. He had _hoped_ they had decided to stay home today. Not that he didn't _like _the fact that they…no, wait, he pretty much hated the fact that they were _always _here.

"Don't they _ever_ go home?" he said darkly, glaring at the grass. "Why do they always have to come _here_ anyway? Can't they go to each _other's _house for once?"

"They like coming here, and Azula likes having them over. Besides they won't be here for a while, so you have nothing to worry about," answered his mother.

"Yeah, but they always bother Yu-Lin whenever they're here. Ty Lee's gotten better, but Azula and Mai always do mean things to her. I don't know why, she's really nice."

"What do they do to Yu-Lin?" asked the elder Princess, concern in her voice laced with thinly veiled annoyance. Her son looked up at her, hearing the tone of her voice and hesitated. She saw the expression on his face and relaxed and assured him that she was only going to have a talk with Azula after their lesson was over as well as Mai's mother when she came to pick her up.

"Well," started the Prince, "Mai doesn't really _do_ anything…but she doesn't really stop Azula either. Azula's the one who always starts it. She always calls Yu-Lin names; mean names like 'filth' and 'garbage' and she's always firebending at her too. For no reason."

He watched his mother's face as it darkened into an expression of anger. Azula knew better than to treat people that way; she had told her that. But still…it didn't seem like she was listening to her at all. The elder Princess stared at a spot away from her son's face, deep in thought then got up and beckoned for her son to follow.

"Come Zuko, you don't want to keep them waiting for much longer," she said and the two of them went to the study for the Prince's lesson. When they came to the large wooden doors of the study, his mother left him to go and have some time to herself and told him that she will be near the turtle-duck pond when his lesson was over.

"When you're done, you may come and keep my company if you'd like," she suggested to him, smiling. "And bring your sister with you, I have to have a talk with her," she added sternly as an afterthought. He nodded and said he would and waved goodbye to her as she disappeared down the hall. When she was no longer in sight, Zuko looked at the door ominously, mentally bracing himself for when he had to see his sister.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself and placed a hand on the large, brass knob and turned. He pushed the door open and stepped inside and was greeted by Shi-Ru and Azula sitting at a large table in front of him. The study was an enormous room filled with numerous shelves packed with scroll after scroll of anything one could imagine. Mostly the scrolls were records of the Royal Family through the centuries (excluding Fire Lord Sozin's…those scrolls were in the Dragon Bone Catacombs), but there were also some on firebending techniques, weaponry, cooking, and even sleep remedies.

Sunlight bathed the room in warmth and as Zuko walked to take his seat, the lavishing Oriental red carpet—emblazoned with gold dragons—spewed small dust particles which lifted into the air with every step he took. He saw his younger sibling along with Shi-Ru stand and bow to him as he entered.

"Welcome, Prince Zuko. How nice of you to join us," greeted the Calligraphy Master, as the young Prince took a seat opposite his sister. After Zuko had sat down, the other two relaxed and followed suit and Shi-Ru gave him a piece of rice paper, various calligraphy brushes, an ink stone, some ink, and water. The Prince looked at Azula's paper and saw that she had scribbled her name in tiny characters in the upper left hand corner. She was getting better, though some of her lines were a little shaky, he thought. And she still needed a lot of work.

"Now that Prince Zuko has joined us," started Shi-Ru, breaking him from his thoughts. "Let us begin our lesson. To get us started I would like you to write down the characters you have learned from the last time we gathered." And so, the lesson commenced and the two Royal children were in the study for the next two hours practicing and trying to come up with interesting poems and sentences. As they were nearing the end of the lesson, they were asked to write a small poem about what inspires them, using the characters for "beautiful, heart, sky," and "love."

When the lesson was nearing its end, Shi-Ru asked if he could read what they had come up with. The children handed him their papers and he read Azula's first, eagerness clearly shown on his face. He cleared his throat dramatically, and began reading.

"_The sky is blackened by your smoke_

_My heart beats with excitement at the beautiful fire I have caused_

_I feel the heat in my hands, knowing that I can cause you fear just by expelling the flames._

_O, how I love this power."_

Shi-Ru and Zuko were both stunned into silence. Well, Zuko wasn't especially surprised—he had expected this from his sister, but he saw a bead of sweat slide down from his teacher's brow and saw Azula looking pleased with herself. Nonetheless, the Calligraphy Master put a smile on his face and handed back the Princess's paper.

"Very…well done, Your Highness," he said with a strained smile and handed the poem back to her. The young Princess had a smug grin on her face, obviously quite pleased with her poem. Her brother resisted the urge to roll his eyes and waited for the teacher to read his poem. He was quite proud of it to say the least; he had written it from his heart. When Shi-Ru took his paper to begin reading, he seemed to swell with pride and anticipation. The Calligraphy Master cleared his throat once more and began.

"_I look at the stars in the night sky, _

_Blazing brightly like beautiful tiny fireflies._

_A gentle wind blows as I listen to the beating of my heart_

_I feel at peace, I feel safe._

_I close my eyes and I listen to the chirping of crickets and think,_

'_I love nights like this." _

Azula's face fell into a scowl. _Of course he would write something like this_, she thought in disgust, _so nauseatingly angelic. _

Their teacher praised the young Prince for his eloquent writing style and descriptive phrases and how he could say so much about the setting in so few lines. Zuko blushed with embarrassment as Shi-Ru handed back his poem and dismissed the two of them while he packed up their brushed and various tools. The two Royal children leapt off their chairs, and ran out the door carrying their poems, all too eager to leave their lesson.

Once outside the study, the Prince and Princess stood outside for a moment and read their poems to themselves, each smiling proudly. Zuko then rolled his up, and looked at his sister stating, "Mom wants to talk to you, she's at the turtle-duck pond." Unsure of why her mother was summoning her, Azula racked her brain to see if she had done anything wrong in the past few days; to the best of her knowledge, she hadn't. However, the way her older brother was staring at her made her feel uneasy; his eyes hinted that something was wrong.

"What did you tell her?" demanded the young Princess, glaring at her brother and instantly on edge. The Prince shrugged, and started walking away carrying his poem to his chest and saying nonchalantly, "Nothing that she didn't need to know."

"Like _what_?"

"Go talk to her and find out!" Zuko turned and glared at his sister, matching her tone of voice exactly as she yelled at him. He didn't feel like explaining to her what he had told their mother, and he realized if he did she wouldn't even bother going to even see her. He turned once again and started walking away from her, having no intention to stay in her presence any longer.

Azula stared at his back while he retreated from her, her arms crossed and crushing her poem in her hand. It was no surprise to both her and her brother that she felt uneasy about this meeting with their mother, but she wasn't about to say it out loud. Instead, she huffed and started her walk to the turtle-duck pond her mind racing with unease.

Meanwhile, while his sister went to meet with their mother, Zuko went to his room to hang his poem on the wall. He had accumulated many, and the ones he liked most, he posted on the walls of his bedroom; now he was eager to add this new poem to his collection. He went to his room, sat at his desk and carefully pasted his poem on a wall scroll and pinned it on a space above his bed. He stood a couple steps back to admire his handiwork with a grin, then decided to go and meet his mother at the turtle-duck pond.

As he was heading to the pond, he crossed paths with his sister, who looked quite miserable, as she walked passed him and shot him a hateful glare. Zuko saw that his younger sibling's eyes were slightly red…she had been crying. Judging from the intensity of her gaze, he deduced that she had just been punished—either by being spanked by their mother, or severely scolded. Zuko secretly hoped it was the former, but he wasn't about to show the smirk of satisfaction that was tugging at his lips to his sister, in case he managed to make her angrier as she wallowed in her misery.

Instead, he looked away and went to find Princess Ursa without a second glance back at his sibling.

* * *

"Hey mom, you want to see how Azula feeds turtle-ducks?" questioned Zuko as he sat with his mother at the pond. They were sitting together peacefully outside the courtyard of the Royal Palace, and feeding the creatures when the young Prince offered to show his mother the demonstration. Without further adieu, Zuko then hurled a large amount of bread at a small turtle-duckling, submerging it completely under the water.

"Zuko! Why would you do that?" stated, alarmed by her son's actions. The young Prince stared at the spot where he had hit the turtle-duckling; fear spreading through him as he thought that he might have killed it. Much to his relief however, the little animal surfaced and its mother quickly swam over to it and nuzzled it lovingly. Suddenly—as though something had turned a switch within its brain—it swam towards Zuko, leapt out of the pond, and bit him on the ankle.

"Ow! Ow, Ow!" cried the Prince in pain as he flailed around in agony. He was spared however, when his mother came to the rescue and wrenched the creature from her son's ankle and placed it back in the pond where it gathered its offspring and swam off. Zuko scowled as the family swam away, seemingly offended that they all acted as if nothing had happened.

"Stupid turtle-duck," he exclaimed, bringing his knees to his chest. "Why'd she do that?"

"Zuko, that's how moms are like," reasoned Princess Ursa, kneeling down beside her son. "If you mess with their babies…HAUM! They're going to bite you back!" As she explained she pretended to bite her son as they both laughed and sat underneath the tree, and gazed at the water shimmering under the sun's reflective rays. They were silent for a while, mother and son lost in their own thoughts until Zuko asked another question…one that he was dying to know the answer to.

"Mother?" he said tentatively.

"Hmm?" she answered back, still looking at the pond. Her son looked up at her for a while before finishing his question.

"What…uh…what did you say to Azula about…what I told you earlier?" the Prince finished, unsurely. The elder Princess looked at her son, a hint of sternness in her face.

"Zuko," she stated softly, "As you grow up, there are some things in life that will involve two people, and two people only. What happened between me and your sister just happens to be one of those cases. Do you understand?"

Zuko was silent for a minute as he gazed up at his mother before saying "So…basically you're telling me to mind my own business?" He smiled widely, feigning innocence. Ursa laughed and lightly bumped his head.

"Yes," she answered as Zuko pouted. He was disappointed that he couldn't get details of the extent of his sister's punishment, but he knew his mother was right and said nothing more about the subject. The pair continued to stay by the pond, until Ursa decided it was just about time for lunch and suggested that they move to the dining hall to eat. Famished, Zuko got up and followed his mother back to the Palace grounds.

"I wonder what's for lunch today," exclaimed the young Prince as he and his mother crossed through the open-air hallway that cut through the courtyard.

"We'll just have to wait and see what the servants have prepared for us," replied Ursa cunningly with a smile. Zuko grinned as his stomach growled with anticipation at the thought of food and he and his mother were silent as the made their way through the hallway. They heard laughing, and out of the corner of his eye he saw his sister, her friends Ty Lee and Mai playing in the courtyard next to the fountain. Azula and Ty Lee were doing cartwheels and Mai was sitting off in a corner by herself underneath the shade of a tree.

Zuko forced himself not to look up, so he didn't see Mai turn away and blush nor did he see his sister turn and whisper something to Ty Lee. The next thing he knew, Azula came up to them and innocently asked their mother if she could make Zuko play with them.

"I am _not _cartwheeling!" exclaimed Zuko furiously. He glared angrily at his sibling while she answered back to him.

"You won't have to; cartwheeling's not a game…dumb-dumb," she added under her breath, narrowing her eyes at her brother who glared at her in return.

"I don't care!" he shouted, "I don't want to play with you!" Scowling, Azula changed tactics and quickly became the sweet little sister that she portrayed to the world when she wanted something to go her way.

"We _are _brother and sister," she began in a sickeningly sweet voice. "It's important for us to spend time together. Don't you think so, Mom?"

_Oh great, not that. Mom's totally going to fall for it!_ Though Zuko, dread sinking like lead in his stomach. _Don't fall for it, don't fall for it, _he prayed to the Spirits.

"Yes, darling, I think it's a good idea to play with your sister. Go on, just for a little while," said Ursa as she patted her son's head. Zuko felt like his insides vaporized as he stared at his sister, whose eyes were narrowed dangerously and a sinister smile plastered on her face.

"Consider this payback," she whispered threateningly as their mother retreated. Zuko's stomach sank at the sound of those words and he—very reluctantly—followed his sister to the courtyard where the other two girls waited.

"Mai, come here," ordered the young Princess as she beckoned Mai towards the group. "Go stand by the fountain for a minute." Her friend frowned, wary of why she was being ordered to stand there, but obeyed nonetheless. Azula then smirked, and went to go and get an apple from the nearby tree.

"The rules of the game are simple," she began explaining, "All you have to do is knock the apple off the other person's head." When she was finished, she placed the red fruit atop Mai's head, where it contrasted dramatically against her dark hair, and with a flick of her wrist and the accuracy of a Master Firebender, she lighted the stem of the apple aflame on the young girl's head.

Sneering, the young Princess watched her brother to see what his reaction would be. Not wanting to appear like a coward, he steeled himself and ran at Mai, who screamed in shock making the Prince trip over his own feet and slam into her, making the two of them tumble into the fountain and soaking them both. Behind the pair, they could hear Azula and Ty Lee laughing hysterically.

"See, I told you it would work!" shrieked Azula, as she watched her brother step out of the fountain, his cheeks searing red with embarrassment and anger.

"Aww, they're so cute together," stated Ty Lee, adding insult to injury. Zuko stormed away, sopping wet as he heard Mai stand up in the fountain and proclaim that Azula and Ty Lee were "such…ugh!" in her exact words. As the young Prince stomped off, his mother was coming towards him, looking quite excited.

"I was just coming to get you," she stated, with a smile. "Uncle Iroh just sent us a letter from the war front." When she saw her son up close however, her smile instantly faded and was replaced by an expression of bewilderment. "…You're soaking wet," she stated slowly watching Zuko walk away from her, seething mad.

"GIRLS ARE CRAZY!" exclaimed the Prince in outrage. His mother didn't make any move to stop him, which he was more than glad about, but as he marched off he heard her ask the girls what had just happened in her absence…and she didn't sound pleased. The Prince blocked out Azula's explanation—which he was more than sure was full of lies—and made a beeline to his room, but not before stopping for a moment from hearing laughter coming from his right.

Zuko turned his head and saw Yu-Lin, a servant girl two years his junior as well as good friend and Ming another servant girl about a year his senior, in the middle of a fit of laughter. Apparently they had just witnessed his utmost humiliation and were blatantly sharing in his sister's joy out of it. Zuko saw tears of laughter run down their faces, as he scowled at the pair of them.

Ming was the first to stop, having managed to open her eyes and saw the young Prince standing there near the end of the open-air hallway, glowering at them. She instantly stopped laughing and elbowed Yu-Lin in the ribs, making the young girl come to an abrupt halt as well. The two quickly regained their composure and bowed at the Prince, and looked away in shame.

Yu-Lin, however, stole a glance at Zuko who was still scowling. At the sight of her unease however, his expression softened and a smile spread across his face as he also giggled slightly. Yu-Lin smiled at the Prince as he waved her goodbye and went to his room to change clothes. When he was out of sight, the girls saw Princess Ursa come from the courtyard and they instantly bowed again when she saw them.

"Do the servants have lunch prepared, girls?" asked the elder Princess.

"Yes, Your Highness," said Ming. "We were just coming to find and inform you. Lunch is served in the dining hall, if you are ready." The elder Princess smiled and thanked them, and headed on her way to the dining hall when she was stopped by Yu-Lin who asked her a question.

"Um…Your Majesty," she stated, tentatively, "If I may ask…um…what is that you have in your hand?" The young girl pointed to the scroll Princess Ursa had clasped tightly in her hand as the elder Princess regarded the young servant girl with a smile.

"It's a letter from Uncle Iroh," she said. As soon as she said that the two girls' faces lit up with a smile; no one had heard from the General in months, so this bit of news was more than exciting.

"The honorable General Iroh? And his Royal Highness Prince Lu Ten?" the two girls said in unison, identical smiles of glee on their faces. They looked at each other in excitement, and then back at the Princess.

"Are they coming home?" asked Ming, her eyes brimming with excitement.

"Are they alright?" questioned Yu-Lin, her enthusiasm tinted with worry.

"Did they win?"

"When are they coming back?"

The questions were asked in rapid concession, and Princess Ursa had to hold up a hand in order to make the two girls stop and calm down. They instantly quieted and bowed their heads slightly and looked away.

"We sincerely apologize, Your Highness," said Ming somberly. "We overstepped our boundaries. We ask your forgiveness."

"You are forgiven," replied the Princess, "And as for answering your many questions," the Princess smirked in amusement at this, "the truth is I don't know; I haven't read the letter yet."

"Oh," replied the two girls, slightly disheartened. Silence passed between the two servants and the Royal, but it was broken by Prince Zuko running towards them, having changed into dryer clothes.

"What does the letter say?" he questioned immediately. Princess Ursa chuckled, and answered, "As I was saying to Ming and Yu-Lin, I don't know; I haven't read it yet. I was hoping to read it with you and your sister after lunch so we can all find out together." Her son nodded excitedly, saying that it was a great idea and then as soon as Azula and her friends joined the two of them, they headed into the dining hall for lunch and the two servant girls were left alone as the higher authorities left to eat.

"What do you think the letter says?" asked Ming as they made their way back towards the kitchen to eat their lunch.

"Hmm…hopefully something good," replied Yu-Lin, "Like maybe they've broken through one of the walls of Ba Sing Se!"

"Or maybe they've already broken through both walls and the honored General is writing about their victory and how they'll be home in a few weeks!" speculated Ming, enthusiastically.

"Yeah! But wait…" Yu-Lin hesitated, the expression on her face clouding over with doubt and unease, "…what if it's bad news? What if something bad happened? What if they don't come back? What's going to happen?" The young girl stopped walking and wrung her hands together and stared at Ming, fear clearly shown in her eyes. The elder girl frowned at her and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't talk like that!" she yelled, offended. "They're all right, I know they are. How could you even _think _of saying something that awful! The honored General and his Royal Highness Prince Lu Ten will come back as heroes; I know they will. So don't even _think _about jinxing their return!"

"You're right…I shouldn't have said those things," answered Yu-Lin piously, and looking away at the floor. Ming playfully bopped her on the head and replied, "Pray to the Spirits for their safe return. Now, let's go eat lunch; I'm starving."

* * *

After a filling lunch with Mai and Ty Lee, their parents came to pick them up and Azula, Zuko, and Princess Ursa all went to the common room to have tea and read the letter their Uncle had sent them. Princess Ursa sat in one of the many chairs, and unrolled the letter and began reading aloud to her children.

"_Dearest Family, _

_How are you all doing? I pray to the Spirits that you are all well and healthy. Lu Ten and I miss you all very much and we cannot wait until we are back home and can see your smiling faces again. Ba Sing Se is a magnificent sight to behold. I hope you call can see it someday…if we don't burn it to the ground first." _

At this, the Royal Family laughed at their uncle's joke, and Ursa continued reading as two servants seemingly appeared out of nowhere, each holding a box in their hands.

"_I have sent both Prince Zuko and Princess Azula gifts that I am sure they will love; for Zuko, a pearl dagger from the General who surrendered at the Outer Wall. Lu Ten was the hero that day and it was his idea to give this to you as a gift. Note the inscription and superior craftsmanship."_

The two Royal children then flocked to the servants who each opened the boxes and Zuko grabbed his gift and, unsheathing it, he read the inscription on the front of the weapon.

"Never give up without a fight," he read in a hushed voice. It was a beautiful dagger, seeming to sparkle as tiny pearl fragments in the weapon caught the light of the lanterns as the young Prince tossed it in the air and pretended to fight Earth Kingdom enemies with it. His sister eyed his gift with a jealous eye as his mother kept reading the letter and she got to the part where Azula was to be presented with her gift.

"_And for Azula, a new friend, she wears the latest fashion of Earth Kingdom girls." _

As Azula reached inside her box, she made a face as she brought out a hand-woven Earth Kingdom doll. Zuko had to refrain from laughing hysterically; he had never seen Azula play with a doll in his life, and just the fact that she had gotten one as a gift, was quite humorous.

Sticking out her tongue in disgust, Azula questioned rather ominously, "If Uncle doesn't make it back from war, then Dad would be next in line to become Fire Lord, wouldn't he?"

"Azula, we don't speak that way. It would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn't return," retorted Princess Ursa, slightly alarmed by her daughter's words. Zuko then added his own remark, his voice defensive.

"How would you like it if Cousin Lu Ten wanted Dad to die?" he questioned, a hint of anger in his voice.

His sibling sneered back at him with a final, "I still think _our _Dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his Royal Tea-Loving Kookiness," before squeezing her doll and alighting the head aflame. Zuko stared at the doll, watching as its flaming head darkened as the cloth burned, and a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. How could she speak that way about Uncle? And with such little remorse or guilt in her voice while she spoke those words? As the dolls head became completely black and fell to the floor, Zuko looked away, unable to watch as the charred fabric fell into a dark clump on the carpet.

"Azula!" cried Princess Ursa, stunned at her daughter's actions, "Why would you do that to your Uncle's gift?" Zuko tuned them out and while his mother and sister argued over Azula's actions, the young Prince snuck away from the common room, wanting to find a quiet place to be and not think about what Azula had just said or done. Those words sent an ominous chill down his spine, and what she did didn't make him feel any better. It was as if she hated their uncle and wanted nothing to do with him and actually _wanted _him not to come back.

"She's sick," he muttered to himself as he walked to Spirits-knows-where. He wasn't paying any particular attention to his surroundings and kind of just allowed his feet to take him wherever they felt like. It wasn't long before he bumped into Yu-Lin—literally since he was staring at the floor as he walked and he walked right into her.

"Oh, sorry Yu-Lin," he apologized, "I didn't see you."

"It's fine, Your Excellency," said the girl with a smile. Her friend smiled too, but his facial expression soon changed into one of gloom. Yu-Lin looked at him for a while before speaking again.

"Your Excellency," she spoke, tentatively. "Is something wrong? Why do you look so sad?"

Zuko blinked once in surprise; he hadn't even noticed that his expression was so obviously one of sadness that her question threw him off guard. He tried to laugh it off and tell her he was fine, but the way she was staring at him made him feel even more depressed, so he finally gave in and told her the truth about what happened in the common room with his mother and sister.

"Why would she say things like that? The Spirits might make it come true, doesn't she know that?" inquired Yu-Lin, her eyes wide and fearful. Throughout the Fire Nation is was cultural not to wish ill on those around them—one can never know when the Spirits might be listening and take their threat to heart; everyone knew that. The superstition ran deepest and strongest amongst the servants of the Royal Palace and the peasants of the Fire Nation however, and they took it rather seriously.

"That's the thing," replied Zuko, slightly shaken by what his friend said, "I don't think she really cares." They were silent for a while before Yu-Lin reassured him that she will pray to the Spirits for the General's safe return as well as Prince Lu Ten's.

"Thank you," said Zuko humbly, as he tried to think of something that would change the subject. "Oh! Check out what Uncle got me!" He then brought out the dagger he had received as a gift and unsheathed it, with the inscription in view.

"He got it from the General who surrendered at the Outer Wall! Read what it says," he said, excitedly with a huge smile on his face. Yu-Lin looked at the small weapon, its metal gleaming in the light of midday.

"_Never give up without a fight_," she read aloud. She then looked at her friend, and smiled warmly at him before saying, "That sounds a little like you." Zuko blinked and raised an eyebrow and read the inscription again.

"It does?" he asked, looking back at the servant girl, confused. She nodded and stated, "Mhm! You don't ever give up on something when you really want it. You have a fighting spirit. Mother says that's a good quality to have, because then you'll be a great leader in whatever it is you choose to do."

The young Prince's cheeks flushed slightly with pink at her words, but said nothing as he sheathed the dagger again and tucked it away in his waistband for safekeeping. Silence passed between the two children again for a long time, each one lost in their own thoughts, and staring at the sky in the open air hallway.

"Yu-Lin?" asked Zuko breaking the silence, still staring at the sky as a gentle breeze came through the hallway.

"Hm?" acknowledged the servant girl, looking at the Prince. Zuko didn't look at her and continued to stare out into space while he said, while he said, "Do _you _think my Uncle will come back from the war alive?"

"Of course," replied Yu-Lin without an ounce of hesitation and doubt in her voice. "The honored General will come home a hero, I know it. And His Majesty Prince Lu Ten too." Zuko finally turned his gaze towards her in a warm smile.

"Thank you," he said, sincerely. "You're a good friend." Yu-Lin smiled at him and they watched the clouds for a bit longer before the servant girl had to bid him farewell and return to her work.

It was no more than a few weeks later however, that another letter was sent to the Royal Palace from the war front of Ba Sing Se. Zuko and Azula were playing outside in the courtyard with their mother keeping a watchful eye under the tree while she sat on a bench. A servant then came up to the elder Princess and handed her a scroll, and then left hurriedly.

Unrolling it, the Princess read it and started to weep, and called her children over to her. They rushed to be by her side, for they saw that something was wrong. It was then that she told them the horrible news. Their cousin, Prince Lu Ten had died.

**Chapter 7 everyone! I hope you like it! Again, I'd like to thank my reviewers for their ever-awesome support and encouragement! I really like how this chapter came out, and I think because of it, it's strong enough to go along with what I have planned for the story! By far, this was the hardest chapter to write, but I think to get the story to where I wanted to go, it was worth it. I hoped you all liked it and I'll see you all in chapter 8! **


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